Relation 5
or
Manifestations of her Spiritual State
which St. Teresa Submitted
to Her Confessors
or
Spiritual Testimonies
or
Relations of the Spirit
Observations on
Certain Points of Spirituality.
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Discussion Topics / Questions
1). What did Our Lord say to St. Teresa
regarding the fear of wondering
if one is in grace
and true Humility?
[ Relations 5: # 1 ]
2). What did St. Teresa say
regarding Union?
[ Relations 5: # 2,3 ]
3). What did St. Teresa say
regarding the use
of holy pictures
as an aid to prayer ?
[ Relations 5: # 5 ]
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1). What did Our Lord
say to St. Teresa
say to St. Teresa
regarding the fear of wondering
if one is in grace
and true Humility?
[ Relations 5: # 1 ]
St. Teresa wrote that Our Lord said to her:
"Daughter,
light is very different from darkness.
I am faithful;
no one will be lost
without knowing it.
He must be deceiving himself
who relies on spiritual sweetnesses;
the true safety lies in the witness
of a good conscience. [667]
[667] 2 Cor. i. 12:
"Gloria nostra haec est,
testimonium conscientiae nostrae"
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"But let no one think
that of himself
he can abide in the light,
any more than
he can hinder the natural night
from coming on;
for that depends on My grace.
The best means he can have
for retaining the light
is the conviction in his soul
that he can do nothing of himself, and
that it comes from Me;
for, even if he were in the light,
the instant I withdraw,
night will come."
[ Relations 5: # 1 ]
"True humility is this:
the soul's knowing
what itself can do, and
what I can do.
[ Relations 5: # 1 ]
Yet, further on, in Paragraph #3,
St.Teresa states
".... nobody can tell
whether he is
in a state of grace
or not. [670]
[ Relations 5: # 3 ]
[670]
Eccl. ix. 1:
"Nescit homo utrum
amore an odio
dignus sit."
"man knoweth not
whether he be worthy
of love, or hatred"
All these things
have I considered in my heart,
that I might carefully understand them:
there are just men and wise men,
and their works are
in the hand of God:
and yet man knoweth not
whether he be worthy
of love, or hatred"
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______________________________
2). What did St. Teresa say
regarding Union?
[ Relations 5: # 2,3 ]
St. Teresa said:
In Union the spirit is
~ Occupied in God;
in accord with the will of God,
detached from the world and self
"I understood it (union)
to be a spirit,
pure and raised up above
all the things of earth,
with nothing remaining in it
that would swerve
from the will of God,
being a spirit and a will
resigned to His will, and
in detachment from all things,
occupied in God in such a way
as to leave no trace
of any love
of self, or
of any created thing
whatever.
[ Relations 5: # 2 ]
"He showed me
that the spirit was
the higher part of the will.
[ Relations 5: # 2 ]
~ It is a gift of God
not attained by effort or merit:
"that the dust of our wretchedness,
faults, and imperfections,
wherein we bury ourselves,
is so great,
that it is not possible
to live in such pureness
as the spirit is in
when
in union with God,
raised up and
out of our wretched misery."
[ Relations 5: # 3 ]
~ Not defined as Nearness to God:
"Do not suppose, My daughter,
that to be near to Me
is union;
for they who sin against Me
are near Me,
though they do not wish it.
[ Relations 5: # 2 ]
~ Union is not the consolation
which accompanies it.
"Nor is union
the joys and comforts of union,
though they be
of the very highest kind, and
though they come from Me.
[ Relations 5: # 2 ]
God may grant these joys
to weak souls in order to strengthen
their resolve:
"These very often
are means of winning souls,
even if they are not
in a state of grace."
[ Relations 5: # 2 ]
St. Teresa seems to qualify that
for a complete union
of the will and soul with God,
the soul would have to be in the
state of grace:
And I think,
if it be union to have
our will and spirit
in union with
the will and Spirit of God,
that it is not possible for any one
not in a state of grace
to attain thereto;
and I have been told so.
[ Relations 5: # 3 ]
~ Duration:
"it is true that the union lasts
but a very short time.
[ Relations 5: # 3 ]
~ Difficulty for the soul to
know if/when it is in union.
"Accordingly, I believe
it is very difficult to know
when the soul is in union;
to have that knowledge
is a special grace of God,
because nobody can tell
whether he is
in a state of grace
or not. [670]
[ Relations 5: # 3 ]
[670]
Eccl. ix. 1:
"Nescit homo utrum amore
an odio dignus sit."
"man knoweth not
whether he be worthy
of love, or hatred"
"All these things
have I considered in my heart,
that I might carefully understand them:
there are just men and wise men,
and their works are
in the hand of God:
and yet man knoweth not
whether he be worthy
of love, or hatred"
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______________________________
3). What did St. Teresa say
regarding the use
of holy pictures
as an aid to prayer ?
[ Relations 5: # 5 ]
Paragraph #5 discusses the value
of religious paintings or pictures
in rendering assistance in prayer
by helping to
recollect one's thoughts and
awakening one's love
toward the living God
St. Teresa said:
She "had read
that it was an imperfection
to possess pictures well painted"
and other adornments of this kind
even though they be
of a religious subject.
She thought it
in keeping with
her vow of poverty and
her Rule,
that her religious pictures
be made of poor materials.
But she said
that Our Lord taught her
regarding this.
He said:
"Which is better, poverty or charity?
But as love was the better,
whatever kindled love in me,
that I must not give up,
nor take away from my nuns"
[ Relations 5: # 5 ]
( "If love was better,
I must not give up anything
that awakened love in me"
- Peer's translation
Relations 3: # XXX )
"What Satan was doing
among the Lutherans
was the taking away from them
all those means
by which their love might be
the more quickened;
and thus they were going to perdition.
Those who are loyal to Me,
My daughter,
must now,
more than ever,
do the very reverse of what they do."
[ Relations 5: # 5 ]
See also: St. John of the Cross,
Ascent to Mount Carmel,
bk. iii. ch. xv. #1, 2
Here, St. John of the Cross
specifically discusses
the value of holy pictures and images
that serve to
remind one of God,
assist one in the raising
of the thoughts and love to God
and the means of
recollecting oneself and
going beyond the image
"to the living God"
Regarding "distinct images,
forms and ideas
(that) come to (the memory)
it must not rest in them,
but must turn immediately to God,
voiding the memory of them entirely,
with loving affection."
2. But here it must be borne in mind
that this doctrine ours
does not agree,
nor do we desire
that it should agree,
with the doctrine
of those pestilent men,
who, inspired
by Satanic pride and envy,
have desired to remove
from the eyes of the faithful
the holy and necessary use,
and the worthy adoration,
of images of God and
of the saints.
This teaching of ours
is very different from that;
for we say not here, as they do,
that images should not exist,
and should not be adored;
we simply explain the difference
between images and God.
We exhort men
- to pass beyond that
which is superficial (or painted)
that they may not be hindered
from attaining to the living truth
beneath it, and
- to make no more account
of the former than suffices
for attainment to the spiritual.
For means are good and necessary
to an end;
and images are means
which serve to remind us
of God and
of the saints.
But when we consider and attend
to the means
more than is necessary
for treating them as such,
they disturb and hinder us
as much, in their own way,
as any different thing;
the more so,
when we treat
of supernatural visions and images,
to which I am specially referring,
and with respect to which arise
many deceptions and perils.
For, with respect to the
remembrance and
adoration and
esteem
of images,
which the Catholic Church
sets before us,
there can be no deception or peril,
because naught is esteemed therein
other than that
which is represented;
nor does the remembrance of them
fail to profit the soul,
since they are not preserved
in the memory
save with love for that
which they represent;
and, provided the soul
pays no more heed to them
than is necessary for this purpose,
they will ever assist it
to union with God,
allowing the soul to soar upwards
(when God grants it that favour)
from the superficial image
(the painted image)
to the living God,
forgetting
every creature and
everything
that belongs to creatures.
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~ End of Discussion ~
of Relation V
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