Relation III

Relation III

           or

Manifestations of her Spiritual State

   which St. Teresa Submitted to Her Confessors

           or

Spiritual Testimonies

           or

Relations of the Spirit

.   Of Various Graces Granted to the Saint   from the Year 1568 to 1571 Inclusive.                       .

Discussion Topics / Questions          to keep in mind         as we read along 1). St. Teresa spoke of a vision of Christ with "crown of great splendour". What was was her response? What did Our Lord  request of her?       [ Relations 3: #  2 ] 2)  What were St. Teresa's concerns         regarding business transactions ?                  How did Our Lord counsel her         in this regard?            [ Relations 3: #  4 ] 3). St. Teresa, while praying         after Communion,       "complained of our poor nature          to our Lord".       She then was graced with a vision          of the Holy Trinity       and  Spiritual wisdom.       How did she describe this gift of God?               [ Relations 3: # 6, 9  ] 4). St. Teresa states she was previously           accustom to being aware        of the presence of Our Lord.        Later, she experienced the          continual presence             of the Holy Trinity.        How did she explain this ?                        [ Relations 3: # 9  ] 5).  These graces and gifts        that were granted to St. Teresa          made her more and more aware         of  God's  mercy and forgiveness          and of her own faults.         What did she say regarding this ?               [ Relations 3: # 6 ] 6). What did St. Teresa learn          from Our Lord regarding        of what "true gain" consists?               [ Relations 3: # 10  ] 7).  St. Teresa encountered some          disapproval from those who thought         that rather than" going out               to make new foundations"         she should "occupy...(herself)                always with prayer".       She considered this question with care       What counsel did she receive ?                [ Relations 3: # 10  ] 8).  How did St. Teresa illustrate the         the importance of obedience?               [ Relations 3: # 12  ] 9). How did St. Teresa describe        her intellectual visions regarding        the different states of a soul ?               [ Relations 3: # 13  ] 10).  What reference did St. Teresa              provide regarding               Spiritual Marriage ?                 [ Relations 3: # 20  ] 11). On what does  merit depend ?                 [ Relations 3: # 21  ]

                Relation III

 1. When I was in the monastery of Toledo,
and some people were advising me

    not to allow any but noble persons

            to be buried there, [644]

our Lord said to me:

"Thou wilt be very inconsistent,

My daughter,

   if thou regardest the laws of the world.

Look at Me, poor and despised of men:

  are the great people of the world

likely to be great in My eyes?

Or is it descent or virtue

  that is to make you esteemed?"

2. After Communion,

  the second day of Lent,

in St. Joseph of Malagon,

our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to me

   in an imaginary vision,

as He is I wont to do; and

when I was looking upon Him

  I saw that He had on His head,

 instead of the crown of thorns,

   a crown of great splendour,

         over the part

where the wounds of that crown

  must have been.

And as I have a great devotion

   to the crowning with thorns,

I was exceedingly consoled, and began

  - to think

      how great the pain must have been

      because of the many wounds, and

  - to be sorrowful.

Our Lord told me

   not to be sad

     because of those wounds,

     but for the many wounds

       which men inflict upon Him now.

I asked Him

  what I could do by way of reparation;

for I was resolved to do anything.

He replied:

 - "This is not the time for rest;"

  - that I must hasten on the foundations,

     for He would take His rest

         with the souls

     which entered the monasteries;

 - that I must admit

      all who offered themselves,

    because there were many souls

       that did not serve Him

    because they had no place

      wherein to do it;

  - that those monasteries

      which were to be founded in small towns

           should be like this;

  - that the merit of those in them

       would be as great,

    if they only desired to do that

    which was done in the other houses;

 - that I must contrive to

    -- put them all  under the jurisdiction

           of one superior, [645] and

    -- take care that anxieties

           about means of bodily maintenance

        did not destroy interior peace,

            for He would help us,

        so that we should never be

            in want of food.

  - Especial care was to be had

        of the sick sisters;

     the prioress who did not provide

        for and comfort the sick

     was like the friends of Job:

     He sent them sickness

        for the good of their souls,

      and careless superiors risked

         the patience of their nuns.

 - I was to write the history

      of the foundation of the monasteries.

    I was thinking how

       there was nothing to write about

    in reference to the foundation of Medina,

    when He asked me,

       what more did I want to see

     than that the foundation there

        was miraculous?

     By this He meant to say

        that He alone had done it,

     when it seemed impossible. [646]

I resolved to execute His commands.

3. Our Lord told me something

   I was to tell another,

and as I was considering

   how I did not understand it at  all,

           -- though I prayed to Him,

               and was thinking

               it might be from Satan,--

   He said to me

      that it was not, and

      that He Himself would warn me

          when the time came.

4. Once, when I was thinking

  how much more purely they live

       who withdraw themselves

             from all business, and

  how ill it goes with me, and

  how many faults I must be guilty of,

       when I have business to transact,

I heard this:

"It cannot be otherwise, My daughter;

but

   - strive thou always after

      -- a good intention in all things, and

      -- detachment;

   - lift up thine eyes to Me, and

   - see that all thine actions

       may resemble Mine."

      (  may be in accordance

          with Mine." - Peer's translation

         Relations XI 3  )

5. Thinking how it was

   that I scarcely ever fell into a trance

       of late in public,

I heard this:

"It is not necessary now;

thou art sufficiently esteemed

    for My purpose;

we are considering the weakness

    of the wicked."

6. One Tuesday after the Ascension, [647]
having prayed for awhile

   after Communion in great distress,
because I was so distracted

    that I could fix my mind on nothing,

I complained of our poor nature to our Lord.

 The fire began to kindle in my soul, and

I saw, as it seemed to me,

   the most Holy Trinity [648]

        distinctly present

in an intellectual vision,

   whereby my soul understood

through a certain representation,

    as a figure of the truth,

so far as my dulness could understand,

    how God is Three and One;

and thus it seemed to me

   that all the Three Persons spoke to me,

   that They were distinctly present

         in my soul,

saying unto me

"that from that day forth

 I should see

    - that my soul had grown better

       in three ways, and

    - that each one of the Three Persons

         had bestowed on me a distinct grace,

              --in charity,

                 in suffering joyfully,

                 in a sense of that charity

                     in my soul,

                 accompanied with fervour."

  I learnt the meaning of those words

      our Lord,

  that the Three Divine Persons

      will dwell in the soul

   that is in a state of grace. [649]

Afterwards

   giving thanks to our Lord

        for so great a mercy, and

    finding myself utterly unworthy of it,

 I asked His Majesty with great earnestness

    how it was that He,

        after showing such mercies to me,

    let me go out of His hand, and

    allowed me to become so wicked;

  for on the previous day

      I had been in great distress

          on account of my sins,

      which I had set before me.

I saw clearly then

   how much our Lord on His part had done,
ever since my infancy,

    to draw me to Himself

            by means most effectual, and

yet, that all had failed.

Then I had a clear perception

   of the surpassing love of God for us,

in that He forgives us all this

   when we turn to Him,

    and for me

           more than for any other,

    for many reasons.

The vision

   of the Three Divine Persons - One God -

 made so profound an impression

   on my soul,

that if it had continued

   it would have been impossible for me

not to be recollected in so divine a company.

What I saw and heard besides

   is beyond my power to describe.

7. Once, when I was about to communicate,

  -- it was shortly before I had this vision, --

the Host being still in the ciborium,

for It had not yet been given me,

  I saw something like a dove,

      which moved its wings with a sound.

It disturbed me so much, and

    so carried me away out of myself,

that it was with the utmost difficulty

     I received the Host.

All this took place in St. Joseph of Avila.

 It was Father Francis Salcedo

  who was giving me

      the most Holy Sacrament.

Hearing Mass another day,

  I saw our Lord glorious in the Host;

He said to me

  that his sacrifice was acceptable unto Him.

8. I heard this once:

"The time will come

when many miracles will be wrought

   in this church;

it will be called the holy church."

It was in St. Joseph of Avila,

     in the year 1571.

9. I retain to this day,

which is the Commemoration of St. Paul,

   the presence of the Three Persons

of which I spoke in the beginning; [650]

they are present almost continually

   in my soul.

I, being accustomed

   to the presence of Jesus Christ only,

 always thought that the vision

   of the Three Persons

        was in some degree a hindrance,

 though I know

   the Three Persons are but One God.

To-day, while thinking of this,

  our Lord said to me

"that I was wrong in imagining

  that those things which

      are peculiar to the soul

      can be represented by those of the body;

I was to understand

  that they were very different, and

  that the soul had a capacity

      for great fruition."

It seemed to me as if

    this were shown to me thus:

as water penetrates and is drunk in

    by the sponge,

so, it seemed to me,

    did the Divinity fill my soul,

which in a certain sense

    had the fruition and possession

         of the Three Persons.

And I heard Him say also:

"Labour thou not to hold Me

    within thyself enclosed,

but enclose thou thyself within Me."

It seemed to me

  that I saw the Three Persons

     within my soul, and

      communicating Themselves

            to all creatures abundantly

      without ceasing to be with me.

10. A few days after this,

 thinking

    whether they were right

       who disapproved of my going out

              to make new foundations, and

    whether it would not be better for me

       if I occupied myself always with prayer,
I heard this:

"During this life,

   the true gain consists

    - not in striving after greater joy in Me,

    - but in doing My will."

It seemed to me, considering

   what St. Paul says about women,

how they should stay at home, [651]

      -- people reminded me lately of this,

          and, indeed, I had heard it before, --

   it might be the will of God

          I should do so too.

He said to me:

"Tell them they are

    not to follow one part of the Scripture

          by itself,

    without looking to the other parts also;
perhaps, if they could,

    they would like to tie My hands."

11. One day

after the octave of the Visitation,

in one of the hermitages of Mount Carmel,

   praying to God for one of my brothers,

I said to our Lord, 

           --”I do not know

           whether it was only in thought or not,

            for my brother was in a place

            where his salvation was in peril,--

  "If I saw one of Thy brethren, O Lord,

  in this danger,

what would I not do to help him!"

It seemed to me there was nothing

  that I could do

which I would not have done.

Our Lord said to me:

"O daughter, daughter!

the nuns of the Incarnation are thy sisters,

   and thou holdest back.

Take courage, then.

Behold, this is what I would have thee do:

it is not so difficult as it seems;

and though it seems to thee

   that by going thither

       thy foundations will be ruined,

    yet it is by thy going

       that both these and the monastery

               of the Incarnation

     will gain;

 resist not,

for My power is great." [652]

12. Once, when thinking

  of the great penance

practised by Dona Catalina de Cardona,  

                                            [653]

and how I might have done more,  

  considering the desires

which our Lord had given me at times,

if it had not been for my obedience

  to my confessors,

I asked myself

   whether it would not be as well

if I disobeyed them for the future

    in this matter.

Our Lord said to me:

"No, My daughter;

    thou art on the sound and safe road.

Seest thou all her penance?

    I think more of thy obedience."

13. Once, when I was in prayer,

He showed me

  by a certain kind of intellectual vision,

the condition of a soul in a state of grace:

 in its company, I saw by intellectual vision

   the most Holy Trinity,

from whose companionship

  the soul derived a power

which was a dominion

   over the whole earth.

I understood the meaning

   of those words in the Canticle:

"Let my Beloved come

     into His garden and eat." [654]

He showed me also

  the condition of a soul in sin,

utterly powerless,

  like a person tied and bound and blindfold,   

who, though anxious to see,

  yet cannot,

   being unable to walk or to hear, and

   in grievous obscurity.

I was so exceedingly sorry

  for such souls,

that, to deliver only one,

  any trouble seemed to me light.

I thought it impossible for any one

  who saw this as I saw it,

       - and I can hardly explain it,-

   willingly to forfeit so great a good or

    continue in so evil a state.

14. One day, in very great distress

   about the state of the Order,

and casting about for means to succour it,

  our Lord said to me:

"Do thou what is in thy power,

  and leave Me to Myself,

  and be not disquieted by anything;

  rejoice in the blessing

            thou hast received,

      for it is a very great one.

My Father is pleased with thee,

and the Holy Ghost loves thee."

15. "Thou art ever desiring trials, and,

on the other hand,

   declining them.

I order things

   according to what I know thy will is, and

   not according to thy sensuality

        and weakness.

Be strong, for thou seest

  how I help thee;

I have wished thee to gain this crown.

Thou shalt see the Order of the Virgin

  greatly advanced in thy days."

I heard this from our Lord

  about the middle of February, 1571.

16. On the eve of St. Sebastian,

  the first year of my being

 in the monastery of the Incarnation [655]

  as prioress there,

at the beginning of the Salve,

I saw the Mother of God descend

with a multitude of angels

  to the stall of the prioress,

where the image of our Lady is,

  and sit there herself.

I think I did not see the image then,

  but only our Lady.

She seemed to be like that picture of her

  which the Countess [656] gave me;

but I had no time to ascertain this,

  because I fell at once into a trance.

Multitudes of angels seemed to me

  to be above the canopies of the stalls,

and on the desks in front of them;

but I saw no bodily forms,

  for the vision was intellectual.

She remained there during the Salve,

and said to me:

"Thou hast done well to place me here;

I will be present when the sisters sing

           the praises of my Son, and

   will offer them to Him."

After this I remained in that prayer

  which I still practise, and

  which is that

       of keeping my soul in the company

       of the most Holy Trinity;

and it seemed to me

  that the Person of the Father

       drew me to Himself, and

       spoke to me most comfortable words.

Among them were these,

  while showing how He loved me:

"I give thee My Son, and the Holy Ghost,  

  and the Virgin:

What canst thou give Me?" [657]

17. On the octave of the Holy Ghost,

our Lord

     was gracious unto me, and

     gave me hopes of this house, [658]

that it would go on improving

     - I mean the souls that are in it.

18. On the feast of the Magdalene,

our Lord again confirmed a grace

  I had received in Toledo,

     electing me,

          in the absence of a certain person,

     in her place.

19. In the monastery of the Incarnation,

and in the second year

   of my being prioress there,

on the octave of St. Martin,

  when I was going to Communion,

the Father, Fr. John of the Cross, [659]

   - divided the Host

          between me and another sister.

I thought it was done,

   not because there was any want of Hosts,

   but that he wished to mortify me

because I had told him

   how much I delighted

      in Hosts of a large size.

Yet I was not ignorant

  that the size of the Host is of no moment;

for I knew that our Lord is whole and entire

  in the smallest particle.

His Majesty said to me:

"Have no fear, My daughter;

  for no one will be able

      to separate thee from Me",

   - giving me to understand

        that the size of the Host mattered not.

20. Then appearing to me,

  as on other occasions,

in an imaginary vision, most interiorly,

  He held out His right hand and said:

"Behold this nail!

    it is the pledge of thy being My bride

  from this day forth.

Until now thou hadst not merited it;

from henceforth thou shalt

   regard My honour,

not only as of one

   who is Thy Creator, King, and God,

 but as thine, My veritable bride;

My honour is thine, and thine is Mine."

This grace had such an effect on me,

  that I could not contain myself:

I became as one that is foolish,

   and said to our Lord:

"Either ennoble my vileness

or cease to bestow such mercies on me,

  for certainly I do not think

     that nature can bear them."

I remained thus the whole day,

   as one utterly beside herself.

Afterwards I became conscious of

   great progress, and

   greater shame and distress to see

       that I did nothing in return

    for graces so great.

21. Our Lord said this to me one day:
"Thinkest thou, My daughter,

     that meriting lies in fruition?

No;

Merit lies only

     in doing,

     in suffering, and

     in loving.

You never heard

  that St. Paul had the fruition

     of heavenly joys more than once;

while he was often in sufferings. [660]

Thou seest how My whole life

   was full of dolors, and

only on Mount Tabor

    hast thou heard of Me in glory. [661]

Do not suppose,

  when thou seest My Mother

      hold Me in her arms,

  that she had that joy

      unmixed with heavy sorrows.

From the time that Simeon spoke to her,

   My Father made her see in clear light

        all I had to suffer.

The grand Saints of the desert,

  as they were led by God,

so also did they undergo heavy penances;

  besides, they waged serious war

      with the devil and

      with themselves,

and much of their time passed away

  without any spiritual consolation whatever.

Believe Me, My daughter,

  his trials are the heaviest

whom My Father loves most;

trials are the measure of His love.

How can I show My love for thee

   better than by desiring for thee

what I desired for Myself?

Consider My wounds;

  thy pains will never reach to them.

This is the way of truth;

thus shalt thou help Me

    to weep over the ruin of those

who are in the world,

  for thou knowest how

all their desires, anxieties, and thoughts

   tend the other way."

When I began my prayer that day,

  my headache was so violent

that I thought I could not possibly go on.

Our Lord said to me:

"Behold now, the reward of suffering.

As thou, on account of thy health,

  wert unable to speak to Me,

I spoke to thee and comforted thee."

Certainly, so it was;

  for the time of my recollection

lasted about an hour and a half,

   more or less.

It was then

   that He spoke to me

       the words I have just related,

       together with all the others.

I was not able to distract myself,

   neither knew I where I was;

my joy was so great as to be indescribable;

 my headache was gone, and

 I was amazed, and

 I had a longing for suffering.

He also told me to keep in mind

   the words He said to His Apostles:

"The servant is not greater than his Lord."

                                           [662]

 _________________________________________

.              Foot Notes: [644] Alonzo Ramirez wished to have the right of burial in the new monastery, but the nobles of Toledo looked on his request as unreasonable. See Foundations, chs. xv. and xvi. [645] See Way of Perfection, ch. viii.;            but [ 482]ch. v.            of the previous editions. [646] See Book of the Foundations, ch. iii. [647] In the copy kept in Toledo,            the day is Tuesday            after the Assumption             (De la Fuente). [648] [483]Ch. xxvii. § 10. [649] St. John xiv. 23:           "Ad eum veniemus, et mansionem             apud eum faciemus." [650] See [484]§ 6. [651] Titus ii. 5:            "Sobrias, domus curam habentes." [652] This took place in 1571,            when the Saint had been appointed            prioress of the monastery            of the Incarnation at Avila;            the very house she had left in order to            found that of St. Joseph,            to keep the rule in its integrity. [653] See Book of the Foundations,           ch. xxviii. [654] Cant. v. 1: "Veniat dilectus meus in            hortum suum, et comedat." [655] A.D. 1572. [656] Maria de Velasco y Aragon,           Countess of Osorno            (Ribera, lib. iii. c. 1). [657] See [485]Relation iv. § 2. [658] The monastery of the Incarnation,            Avila (De la Fuente). [659] St. John of the Cross,           at the instance of the Saint,           was sent to Avila, with another father            of the reformed Carmelites,            to be confessor of            the nuns of the Incarnation,            who then disliked the observance            of the primitive rule. [660] 2 Cor. xi. 27: "In labore et aerumna,               in vigiliis multis."            "In labour and painfulness,              in much watchings" [661] St. Matt. xvii. 2:            "Et transfiguratus est ante eos." [662] St. John xiii. 16:           "Non est servus major domino suo."

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.   -   End  of  Relations   III    -                    .