Relation I.
or Manifestations of her Spiritual State
or
Spiritual Testimonies
Sent to St. Peter of Alcantara in 1560
from the Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila. [622]
|
Discussion Topics / Questions
to keep in mind
as we read along
1). How did St. Teresa generally
describe the "method of prayer"
that she was observing
at this time?
[ Relations 1: #1, 2 ]
2). What does she say about
her Impetuousities
of love and desire for God?
[ Relations 1: # 3 ]
3). What does she say about her
certain vehement desires
to serve God,
and do penances
"accompanied with pain at seeing
how unprofitable I am" ?
[ Relations 1: #4,5 ]
4). What blessings did St. Teresa
receive from prayer?
[ Relations 1: #2, 8, 24, 30 ]
5). What were these good desires
that St. Teresa "was given...
by our Lord
since He raised" her
to contemplative prayer?
[ Relations 1:
# 1,2,3,4, 6,7,9, 10,
12,13, 14,15, 20 ]
6). Who does St. Teresa say
helps her?
[ Relations 1: # 16, 17 ]
7). What did St. Teresa say
regarding vainglory?
[ Relations 1: #18, 19 ]
8). What did St. Teresa say
regarding Detachment
and the Truth?
[ Relations 1: #21, 22, 23 ]
9). St. Teresa seems to be describing
occasions in her spiritual state,
lasting 3 to 5 days,
wherein she feels herself as
unable to pray,
powerless to do good,
replete with faults, and
even unable to recall
the blessings which
she received in the past.
How does she describe this?
What is her response ?
Is there a resolution?
[ Relations 1: # 9, 25, 26 ]
10). How does St. Teresa know
that her visions and other favors
come from God?
[ Relations 1: # 11, 27, 28, 29 ]
|
Relations I
1. The method of prayer,
I observe at present is this:
When I am in prayer,
it is very rarely
that I can use the understanding,
because the soul becomes
- at once recollected,
- remains in repose,
or
- falls into a trance,
so that I cannot in any way have
the use of the faculties and the senses,
- so much so, -
that the hearing alone is left;
but then it does not help me
to understand anything.
2. It often happens,
when I am not even thinking
of the things of God,
but engaged in other matters, and
when prayer seems to be beyond my power,
whatever efforts I might make,
because of the great aridity I am in,
bodily pains contributing thereto,
- that this recollection or elevation of spirit
comes upon me so suddenly
that I cannot withstand it, and
- the fruits and blessings it brings with it
are in a moment mine:
and this, without my having had a vision,
or heard anything,
or knowing where I am,
except that when the soul seems to be lost
I see it make great progress,
which I could not have made
if I had laboured for a whole year,
so great is my gain.
3. At other times
certain excessive impetuosities occur,
accompanied with a certain fainting away
of the soul for God,
so that I have no control over myself; [623]
my life seems to have come to an end,
and so it makes me cry out and call upon God;
and this comes upon me with great vehemence.
Sometimes I cannot remain sitting,
so great is the oppression of the heart;
and this pain comes on without my doing anything
to cause it,
and the nature of it is such
that my soul would be glad
never to be without it while I live.
And the longings I have are longings not to live;
and they come on
because it seems as if
I must live on without being able to find any relief,
for relief comes from the vision of God,
which comes by death,
and death is what I cannot take;
and with all this, my soul thinks
that all, except itself, are filled with consolations,
and that all find help in their troubles,
but not itself.
The distress thus occasioned is so intense
that, if our Lord did not relieve it
by throwing it into a trance,
whereby
- all is made calm, and
- the soul rests in great quiet and is satisfied,
now by seeing something of that
which it desires,
now by hearing other things,
it would seem to be impossible for it
to be delivered from this pain.
4. At other times there come upon me
certain desires to serve God,
with a vehemence so great
that I cannot describe it,
and accompanied with a certain pain
at seeing how unprofitable I am.
It seems to me then
that there is nothing in the world,
neither death, nor martyrdom,
that I could not easily endure.
This conviction, too,
is not the result of any reflection,
but comes in a moment.
I am wholly changed, and
I know not whence cometh such great courage.
I think I should live to
raise my voice, and
publish to all the world
how important it is for men
not to be satisfied with the common way,and
how great the good is that God will give us
if we prepare ourselves to receive it.
I say it again, these desires are such
that I am melted away in myself,
for I seem to desire
what I cannot have.
The body seems to me
to hold me in prison,
through its inability
to serve God and my state [624] in anything;
for if it were not for the body,
I might do very great things,
so far as my strength would allow;
and thus, because I see myself without any power
whatever to serve God,
I feel this pain in a way wholly indescribable;
the issue (effect) is
delight, recollection,
and the consolation of God.
( but in the end I experience joy and recollection
and consolation from God.
- Peers translation )
5. Again, it has happened,
when these longings to serve Him
come upon me,
that I wish to do penance,
but I am not able.
It would be a great relief to me,
and it does relieve and cheer me,
though what I do is almost nothing,
because of my bodily weakness;
and yet, if I were to give way to these my longings,
I believe I should observe no moderation.
6. Sometimes, if I have to speak to any one,
I am greatly distressed, and
I suffer so much
that it makes me weep abundantly;
for my whole desire is to be alone, and
solitude comforts me,
though at times I neither pray nor read,
and conversation
-- particularly of kindred and connections --
seems oppressive, and myself to be as a slave,
except when I speak to those
whose conversation is of
- prayer and
- matters of the soul,
-- in these I find comfort and joy; [625]
yet these occasionally are too much for me,
and I would rather not see them,
but go where I might be alone:
though this is not often the case,
for those especially
who direct my conscience
always console me.
7. At other times it gives me much pain
- that I must eat and sleep, and
- that I see I cannot forego these things,
being less able to do so than any one.
I submit that I may serve God, and
thus I offer up those actions to him.
Time seems to me too short, and
that I have not enough for my prayer,
for I should never be tired of being alone.
I am always wishing I had time for reading,
for I have been always fond of reading.
I read very little,
for when I take up a book
I become recollected
through the pleasure it gives me, and
thus my reading is turned into prayer:
and it is but rarely,
for I have many occupations;
and though they are good,
they do not give me the pleasure
which reading would give.
And thus I am always wishing for more time,
and everything becomes disagreeable, so I believe,
because I see I cannot do
what I wish and desire.
8. All these desires,
with an increase in virtue,
have been given me by our Lord
since He
raised me to this prayer of quiet, and
sent these raptures.
I find myself so improved
that I look on myself
as being a mass of perdition
before this.
These raptures and visions
leave me in possession of the blessings
I shall now speak of;
and I maintain that,
if there be any good in me,
they are the occasions of it.
9. I have made a very strong resolution
never to offend God,
not even venially.
I would rather die a thousand deaths
than do anything of the kind knowingly.
I am resolved
never to leave undone
anything I may consider to be the
more perfect, or
more for the honour of our Lord,
if he who has the care of my soul and directs me,
tells me I may do it.
Cost me what pain it might,
I would not leave such an act undone
for all the treasure of the world.
If I were to do so,
I do not think I could have the face
to ask anything of God,our Lord, or
to make my prayer;
and yet, for all this,
I have many faults and imperfections.
I am obedient to my confessor, [626]
though imperfectly;
but if I know that
(if) he wishes or commands anything,
I would not leave that undone,
so far as I understand it;
if I did so,
I should think myself under a grievous delusion.
10. I have a longing for poverty,
though not free from imperfection;
however, I believe,
if I had wealth,
I would
not reserve any revenue,
nor hoard money for myself,
nor do I care for it;
I wish to have only what is necessary.
Nevertheless, I feel
that I am very defective in this virtue;
for, though I desire nothing for myself,
I should like to have something to give away:
still, I desire no revenue,
nor anything for myself. [627]
11. In almost all the visions I have had,
I have found good,
if it be not a delusion of Satan;
herein I submit myself to the judgment
of my confessors.
12. As to fine and beautiful things,
such as water, fields, perfume, music, etc.,
I think I would rather not have them,
so great is the difference between
them and
what I am in the habit of seeing,
and so all pleasure in them is gone from me.[628]
Hence it is that I care not for them,
unless it be at the first sight:
they never make any further impression;
to me they seem but dirt.
13. If I speak or converse with people in the world
-- for I cannot help it --
even about prayer, and
if the conversation be long,
though to pass away the time,
I am under great constraint if it be not necessary,
for it gives me much pain.
14. Amusements,
of which I used to be fond,
and worldly things,
are all disagreeable to me now,
and I cannot look at them.
15. The longings,
which I said I have, [629] of
loving and
serving and
seeing God,
are not helped by any reflections,
as formerly,
when I thought I was very devout,
and shed many tears;
but they flow
out of a certain fire and heat so excessive
that, I repeat it,
if God did not relieve them
by throwing me into a trance,
wherein the soul seems to find itself satisfied,
I believe my life would come to an end at once.
16. When I see persons
making great progress, and
thus resolved, detached, and courageous,
I love them much;
and I should like to have my conversation
with such persons,
and I think they help me on.
People who are afraid, and seemingly cautious
in those things,
the doing of which is perfectly reasonable here,
seem to
vex me, and
drive me to pray to God and the saints
to make them undertake such things
as these which now frighten us.
Not that I am good for anything myself,
but because I believe
- that God helps those who, for His sake,
apply themselves to great things, and
- that He never abandons any one
who puts his trust in Him only.
And I should like to find any one
who would help me
to believe so, and
to be without thought
about food and raiment,
but leave it all in the hands of God. [630]
17. This leaving in the hands of God
the supply of all I need
is not to be understood
as excluding all labour on my part,
but merely solicitude
-- I mean, the solicitude of care.
( [to exclude] anxiety
- Peers translation )
And since I have attained to this liberty,
it goes well with me, and
I labour to forget myself as much as I can.
I do not think it is a year ago
since our Lord gave me this liberty.
18. Vainglory [631]
-- glory, be to God! --
so far as I know,
there is no reason why I should have any;
for I see plainly that in these things
which God sends me
I have no part myself;
On the contrary,
God makes me conscious
of my own wretchedness;
for whatever reflections I might be able to make,
I could never come to the knowledge
of such deep truths
as I attain to in a single rapture.
19. When I speak of these things
a few days after,
they seem to me
as if they had happened to another person.
Previously, I thought it a wrong to me
that they should be known to others;
but I see now
that I am not therefore any the better,
but rather worse,
seeing that I make so little progress
after receiving mercies so great.
And certainly, in every way,
it seems to me
that there was not in the world
anybody worse than myself;
and so the virtues of others seem to me
much more meritorious than mine,
and that I do nothing myself
but receive graces,
and that God must give to others at once
all that He is now giving unto me;
and I pray Him not to reward me in this life;
and so I believe
that God has led me along this way
because I am weak and wicked.
20. When I am in prayer,
and even almost always
when I am able to reflect at all,
I cannot, even if I tried,
pray to God for rest, or
desire it;
for I see that His life was one of suffering,
and that (suffering),
I ask Him to send me,
giving me first the grace to bear it.
21. Everything
of this kind, and
of the highest perfection,
seems to make so deep an impression
on me in prayer,
that I am amazed at the sight of truths
so great and
so clear
that the things of the world seem to be folly;
and so it is necessary for me to take pains
to reflect on the way
I demeaned myself formerly
in the things of the world,
for it seems to me folly to feel for
deaths and
the troubles of the world,
-- at least, that sorrow for,
or love of,
kindred and friends should last long.
( for it seems to me folly to be grieved
by deaths or by the trials of this world or,
at least, to allow one's grief or love
for relatives or friends
to persist for a very long time.
- Peer's translation )
I say I have to take pains
when I am considering
what I was, and
what I used to feel.
22. If I see people do anything
which clearly seems to be sin,
I cannot make up my mind
that they have offended God;
and if I dwell upon this at all,
-- which happens rarely or never, --
I never can make up my mind,
though I see it plainly enough.
It seems to me
that everybody is as anxious to serve God
as I am.
And herein God has been very gracious unto me,
for I never dwell on an evil deed,
to remember it afterwards and
if I do remember it,
I see some virtue or other in that person.
In this way these things never weary me,
except generally:
but heresies do;
they distress me very often,
and almost always when I think of them
they seem to me to be the only trouble
which should be felt.
And also I feel,
when I see people
who used to give themselves to prayer
fall away;
this gives me pain, but not much,
because I strive not to dwell upon it.
23. I find, also,
that I am improved in the matter
of that excessive neatness
which I was wont to observe, [632]
though not wholly delivered from it.
I do not discern
that I am always mortified in this;
sometimes, however, I do.
24. All this I have described,
together
with a very constant dwelling in thought on God,
is the ordinary state of my soul,
so far as I can understand it.
And if I must be busy about something else,
without my seeking it,
as I said before, [633]
I know not who makes me awake,
-- and this not always,
only when I am busy with things
of importance; and such
-- glory be to God! ---
only at intervals, demand my attention,
and do not occupy me at all times.
25. For some days
-- they are not many, however--
for three, or four, or five,
all my good and fervent thoughts, and my visions,
seem to be withdrawn, yea,
even forgotten,
so that, if I were to seek for it,
I know of no good
that can ever have been in me.
It seems to have been all a dream, or, at least,
I can call nothing to mind.
Bodily pains at the same time distress me.
My understanding is troubled,
so that I cannot think at all about God,
neither do I know under what law I live.
If I read anything,
I do not understand it;
I seem to be
- full of faults, and
- without any resolution whatever
to practise virtue;
and the great resolution I used to have
is come to this,
that I seem to be unable to resist
the least temptation or slander of the world.
It suggests itself to me then
that I am good for nothing,
if any one would have me undertake
more than the common duties.
I give way to sadness,
thinking I have deceived all those
who trusted me at all.
I should like to hide myself
where nobody could see me;
but my desire for solitude arises
from want of courage,
not from love of virtue.
It seems to me
that I should like to dispute with all
who contradict me;
I am under the influence of these impressions,
only God has been so gracious unto me,
that I do not offend more frequently
than I was wont to do,
nor do I ask Him
to deliver me from them,
but only, if it be His will
I should always suffer thus,
to keep me from offending Him;
and I submit myself to His will
with my whole heart, and
I see that it is a very great grace bestowed upon me
that He does not keep me constantly in this state.
26. One thing astonishes me;
it is that,
while I am in this state,
through
a single word
of those I am in the habit of hearing, or
a single vision, or
a little self-recollection,
lasting but an Ave Maria, or
through my drawing near to communicate,
( to approach the altar for Communion
- Peer's translation )
I find
my soul and body
so calm, so sound,
the understanding
so clear, and
myself possessing
all the strength and
all the good desires I usually have.
And this I have had experience of very often
-- at least when I go to Communion;
it is more than six months ago
that I felt a clear improvement
in my bodily health, [634]
and that (was) occasionally brought about
through raptures,
and I find it last sometimes
more than three hours,
at other times I am much stronger
for a whole day;
and I do not think it is fancy,
for I have
considered the matter, and
reflected on it.
Accordingly, when I am thus recollected,
I fear no illness.
The truth is, that
when I pray,
as I was accustomed to do before,
I feel no improvement.
27. All these things of which I am speaking
make me believe
that it comes from God;
for when I see
- what I once was,
- that I was in the way of being lost, and
- that soon, my soul certainly
is astonished at these things,
without knowing
whence these virtues came to me;
I did not know myself, and
(I) saw that
-- all was a gift, and
-- not the fruit of my labours.
I understand in all truthfulness and sincerity, and
(I) see that I am not deluded,
that it has been
- not only the means of drawing me
to God in His service,
- but of saving me also from hell.
This my confessors know,
who have heard my general confession.
28. Also, when I see any one
who knows anything about me,
I wish to let him know my whole life, [635]
because
- my honour seems to me
to consist in the honour of our Lord, and
- I care for nothing else.
This He knows well, or I am very blind;
for neither honour,
nor life,
nor praise,
nor good, either of body or of soul,
can interest me,
nor do I seek or desire any advantage,
only His glory.
I cannot believe
that Satan has sought so many means
of making my soul advance,
in order to lose it after all.
I do not hold him to be so foolish.
Nor can I believe it of God,
-- though I have deserved to fall into delusions
because of my sins, --
- that He has left unheeded so many prayers
of so many good people for two years,
and I do nothing else but ask everybody
to pray to our Lord
that He would
- show me if this be for His glory, or
- lead me by another way. [636]
I do not believe that these things
would have been permitted by His Majesty
to be always going on
if they were not His work.
These considerations,
and the reasons of so many saintly men,
give me courage
when I am under the pressure of fear
that they are not from God,
I being so wicked myself.
But when I am in prayer, and
during those days
when
I am in repose, and
my thoughts fixed on God,
if all the learned and holy men in the world
came together and
put me to all conceivable tortures, and
(if) and I, too, desirous of agreeing with them,
they could not make me believe
that this is the work of Satan,
for I cannot.
And when they would have had me believe it,
I was afraid,
seeing who it was that said so; and
I thought
that they must be saying what was true, and
that I, being what I was,
must have been deluded.
But all they had said to me
was destroyed by the first
word, or recollection, or vision that came,
and I was able to resist no longer,
and believed it was from God. [637]
29. However, I can think
that Satan now and then may intermeddle here,
and so it is, as I have seen and said;
but he produces different results,
nor can he, as it seems to me,
deceive any one possessed of any experience.
Nevertheless, I say that,
though I do certainly believe this
to be from God,
I would never do anything,
for any consideration whatever,
that is not judged by him
who has the charge of my soul
to be for the better service of our Lord,
and I never had any intention
but to obey without concealing anything,
for that is my duty.
I am very often rebuked for my faults,
and (rebuked) in such a way
as to pierce me to the very quick;
and I am warned
when there is, or
when there may be,
any danger in what I am doing.
These rebukes and warnings
have done me much good,
in often reminding me of my former sins,
which make me exceedingly sorry.
30. I have been very long,
but this is the truth,
-- that, when I rise from my prayer,
I see that I have received blessings
which seem too briefly described.
Afterwards I fall into many imperfections,
and am unprofitable and very wicked.
And perhaps I have no perception of what is good,
but am deluded;
still, the difference in my life
is notorious, and
compels me to think over all I have said
-- I mean,
that which I verily believe I have felt.
These are the perfections
which I feel our Lord has wrought in me,
who am so wicked and so imperfect.
I refer it all to your judgment, my father,
for you know the whole state of my soul.
_________________________________
Foot Notes
[622] Fra Anton. a Sancto Joseph,
in his notes on this Relation,
usually published among the letters of the Saint, ed. Doblado,
vol. ii. letter 11,
says it was written for St. Peter of Alcantara
when he came to Avila in 1560,
at the time when the Saint was so severely tried
by her confessors and the others
who examined her spirit, and were convinced
that her prayer was a delusion of Satan:
See the [460]Life, ch. xxv. § 18.
The following notes were discovered
among the papers of the Saint
in the monastery of the Incarnation,
and are supposed to refer to this Relation.
The Chronicler of the Order,
Fra Francis a Sancta Maria,
is inclined to the belief that they were written
by St. Peter of Alcantara,
to whom the Relation is addressed,
and the more so
because Ribera does not claim them
for any member of the Society,
notwithstanding the reference to them
in [461]§§ 22, [462]28.
"1. The end God has in view
is the drawing a soul to himself;
that of the devil
is the withdrawing it from God.
Our Lord never does anything
whereby anyone may be separated from Him,
and the devil does nothing whereby any one
may be made to draw near unto God.
All the visions and the other operations
in the soul of this person
draw her nearer unto God, and
make her more humble and obedient.
"2. It is the teaching of St. Thomas
that an angel of light may be recognised
by the peace and quietness he leaves in the soul.
She is never visited in this way,
but she afterwards abides in peace and joy;
so much so,
that all the pleasures of earth together
are not comparable to one of these visitations.
"3. She never commits a fault,
nor falls into an imperfection,
without being instantly rebuked by Him
who speaks interiorly to her.
"4. She has never prayed for nor wished for them:
all she wishes for
is to do the will of God our Lord in all things.
"5. Everything herein is consistent
with the Scriptures and the teaching
[note continues, p. 404.] of the Church,
and most true, according to the most rigorous principles
of scholastic theology.
"6. This soul is most pure and sincere,
with the most fervent desires
of being pleasing unto God, and
of trampling on every earthly thing.
"7. She has been told that
whatever she shall ask of God, being good,
she shall have.
She has asked much,
and things not convenient to put on paper
lest it should be wearisome;
all of which our Lord has granted.
"8. When these operations are from God,
they are always directed to the good
of the recipient, to that of the community,
or of some other.
That she has profited by them
she knows by experience, and
she knows it, too, of other persons also.
"9. No one converses with her,
if he be not in evil dispositions,
who is not moved thereby to devotion,
even though she says nothing about it.
"10. She is growing daily
in the perfection of virtues,
and learns by these things
the way of a higher perfection.
And thus, during the whole time
in which she had visions,
she was making progress,
according to the doctrine of St. Thomas.
"11. The spirit that speaks to her soul
never tells her anything in the way of news,
or what is unbecoming,
but only that which tends to edification.
"12. She has been told of some persons
that they were full of devils:
but this was for the purpose
of enabling her to understand the state of a soul
which has sinned mortally against our Lord.
"13. The devil's method is,
when he attempts to deceive a soul,
to advise that soul never to speak
of what he says to it;
but the spirit that speaks to this soul
warns her to be open
with learned men, servants of our Lord,
and that the devil may deceive her
if she should conceal anything through shame.
"14. So great is
the progress of her soul in this way, and
the edification she ministers
in the good example given,
that more than forty nuns in her monastery
practise great recollection.
"15. These supernatural things occur
after long praying,
when she is absorbed in God,
on fire with His love, or at Communion.
"16. They kindle in her a most earnest desire
to be on the right road, and
to escape the delusions of Satan.
"17. They are in her
the cause of the deepest humility;
she understands that
what she receives comes to her
from the hand of our Lord, and
how little worth she is herself.
"18. When they are withheld,
anything that occurs is wont
to pain and distress her;
but when she is in this state,
she remembers nothing;
all she is conscious of
is a great longing for suffering, and
so great is it that she is amazed at it.
"19. They are to her sources of joy and consolation
in her troubles,
when people speak ill of her, and in her infirmities
-- and she has fearful pains about the heart,
sicknesses, and many other afflictions,
all of which leave her
when she has these visions.
"20. With all this, she undergoes great penances,
fasting, the discipline, and mortifications.
"21. All that on earth may give her any pleasure,
and her trials, which are many,
she bears with equal tranquillity of mind,
without losing the peace and quiet of her soul.
"22. Her resolution never to offend our Lord
is so earnest
that she has made a vow never to leave undone
what she knows herself,
or is told by those who understand the matter better,
to be the more perfect.
And though she holds the members of the Society
to be saints, and
believes that our Lord [note continues, p. 405.]
made use of them to bestow on her,
graces so great,
she told me that,
if she knew it would be more perfect
to have nothing more to do with them,
she would never speak to them again,
nor see them,
notwithstanding the fact
that it was through them
that her mind had been quieted and directed
in these things.
"23. The sweetnesses she commonly receives,
her sense of God,
her languishing with love,
are certainly marvellous, and
through these she is wont
to be enraptured the whole day long.
"24. She frequently falls into a trance
when she hears God spoken of
with devotion and earnestness, and
cannot resist the rapture, do what she can;
and in that state her appearance is such
that she excites very great devotion.
"25. She cannot bear to be directed by any one
who will not tell her of her faults, and rebuke her;
all that she accepts with great humility.
"26. Moreover, she cannot endure people
who are in a state of perfection,
if they do not labour to become perfect,
according to the spirit of their rule.
"27. She is most detached from her kindred,
has no desire to converse with people,
and loves solitude.
She has a great devotion to the saints,
and on their feasts,
and on the days on which the Church
celebrates the mysteries of the faith,
is filled with most fervent affections for our Lord.
"28. If all the members of the Society,
and all the servants of God upon earth,
tell her that her state is an effect
of the operations of Satan,
or were to say so,
she is in fear and trembling before the visions ccur;
but as soon as she is in prayer, and recollected,
she cannot be persuaded,
were they to tear her into a thousand pieces,
that it is any other than God
who is working in her and speaking to her.
"29. God has given her
a most wonderfully strong and valiant spirit:
she was once timid;
now she tramples on all the evil spirits.
She has put far away from herself
all the littleness and silliness of women;
she is singularly free from scruples,
and most sincere.
"30. Besides, our Lord has given her
the gift of most sweet tears,
great compassion for her neighbours,
the knowledge of her own faults,
a great reverence for good people,
and self-abasement;
and I am certain
that she has done good to many,
of whom I am one.
"31. She is continually reminding herself of God,
and has a sense of His presence.
All the locutions have been verified,
and every one of them accomplished;
and this is a very great test.
"32. Her visions are a source
of great clearness in her understanding, and
an admirable illumination in the things of God.
"33. It was said to her
that she should lead those
who were trying her spirit
to look into the Scriptures,
and that they would not find
that any soul desirous of pleasing God
had been so long deceived."
[623] See [463]Life, ch. xxix. §§ 9-13.
[624] De la Fuente thinks
she means the religious state.
[625] See [464]Life, ch. xxiv. § 8, and
[465]ch. xxxi. § 22.
[626] See [466]Life, ch. xxiii. § 19.
[627] See [467]Life, ch. xxxv. § 2.
[628] See [468]Life, ch. ix. § 6, and
[469]ch. xiv. § 7.
[629] See [470]§ 3, above.
[630] St. Matt. vi. 31:
"Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid
manducabimus. . . . aut quo operiemur?"
[631] See [471]Life, ch. vii. § 2.
[632] See [472]Life, ch. ii. § 2.
[633] [473]§ 2, above.
[634] See [474]Life, ch. xx. § 29.
[635] See [475]Life, ch. xxxi. § 17.
[636] See [476]Life, ch. xxv. § 20.
[637] See [477]Life, ch. xxv. §§ 18, [478]22.
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| ~ End of Relation 1 ~ |
