Relation 7 or Manifestations of her Spiritual State which St. Teresa Submitted to Her Confessors or Spiritual Testimonies or Relations of the Spirit . |
in the Year 1575, According to Don Vicente de la Fuente; but in 1576, According to the Bollandists and F. Bouix. . |
Discussion Topics / Questions
to keep in mind as we read along:
1). How did St. Teresa
describe her daily
active prayer?
[ Relations 7: #1, 2 ]
2). When did St. Teresa experience
aridity in prayer?
Did she desire consolation
in prayer?
[ Relations 7: #3 ]
3). Approximately when did
St. Teresa begin to
occasionally experience
locutions, visions
and revelations interiorly.
[ Relations 7: #4 ]
4). What was her response to these
supernatural graces?
[ Relations 7:
# 5,7,10,15,19,
20,23,24,25,26 ]
5a). Why did St. Teresa approach
an inquisitor?
[ Relations 7: #8,10 ]
5b). What did he advise her to do?
[ Relations 7: #9]
Include:
How her written account
led to her later book,
The Way of Perfection?
[ Relations 7: #9 ]
|
1. This nun took the habit
forty years ago, and
from the first
began to reflect
on the mysteries
of the Passion
of Christ our Lord, and
on her own sins,
for some time every day,
without thinking at all
of anything supernatural,
but only
of created things, or
of such subjects
as suggested to her
- how soon the end of all things
must come,
- discerning in creatures
the greatness of God and
- His love for us.
2. This made her
much more willing to serve Him:
she was never under
the influence of fear, and
made no account of it,
but had always a great desire
to see
God honoured, and
His glory increased.
To that end
were all her prayers directed,
without making any for herself;
for she thought
that it mattered little
if she had to suffer in purgatory
in exchange for
the increase of His glory
even in the slightest degree.
3. In this she spent
about two-and-twenty years
in great aridities, and
never did it enter
into her thoughts
to desire anything else;
for she regarded herself
as one who, she thought,
did not deserve
even to think about God,
except that His Majesty
was very merciful to her
in allowing her
to remain in His presence,
saying her prayers,
reading also in good books.
4. It must be about eighteen years
since she began to arrange
about the first monastery
of Barefooted Carmelites
which she founded.
It was in Avila,
three or two years before,-
-I believe it is three,--
she began to think
that she occasionally
heard interior locutions, and
had visions and revelations
interiorly.
She saw
with the eyes of the soul,
for she
never saw anything
with her bodily eyes,
nor heard anything
with her bodily ears;
twice, she thinks,
she heard a voice,
but she understood not
what was said.
It was a sort of
making things present
when she saw these things interiorly;
they passed away
like a meteor
most frequently.
The vision, however,
remained so impressed
on her mind, and
produced such effects,
that it was
as if she saw those things
with her bodily eyes, and more.
5. She was then by nature
so very timid,
that she would not dare
to be alone even by day, at times.
And as she could not escape
from these visitations,
though she tried with all her might,
she went about
in very great distress,
afraid
that it was a delusion of Satan,
and began to consult spiritual men
of the Society of Jesus about it,
among whom were
- Father Araoz,
who was Commissary
of the Society, and
who happened to go
to that place, and
- Father Francis,
who was Duke of Gandia
--him she consulted twice;[683]
- also a Provincial, now in Rome,
called Gil Gonzalez, and
- him also who is now
Provincial of Castille,
--this latter, however,
not so often,--
- Father Baltasar Alvarez
who is now Rector
in Salamanca; and
he heard her confession
for six years at this time;
- also the present Rector
of Cuenca, Salazar by name;
- the Rector of Segovia,
called Santander;
- the Rector of Burgos,
whose name is Ripalda,
-- and he thought very ill of her
when he heard of these things,
till after he had conversed
with her;
- the Doctor Paul Hernandez
in Toledo,
who was a Consultor
of the Inquisition,
him who was Rector
in Salamanca
when she talked to him;
- the Doctor Gutierrez,
- and other fathers,
some of the Society,
whom she knew
to be spiritual men,
these she sought out,
if any were in those places
where she went
to found monasteries.
6.
With the Father Peter of Alcantara,
who was a holy man
of the Barefooted Friars
of St. Francis,
she had many communications,
and he it was
who insisted so much upon it
that her spirit should
be regarded as good.
They were more than six years
trying her spirit minutely,
as it is already described
at very great length, [684]
as will be shown hereafter:
and she herself
in tears and deep affliction;
for the more they tried her,
the more she fell
into raptures, and into trances
very often,--not, however,
deprived of her senses.
7.
Many prayers were made, and
many Masses were said,
that our Lord would lead her
by another way, [685]
for her fear was very great
when she was not in prayer;
though in everything
relating to the state of her soul
she was very much better,
and a great difference was visible,
there was no vainglory,
nor had she any temptation thereto,
nor to pride;
on the contrary,
she was very much
ashamed and confounded
when she saw
that people knew of her state, and
except with her confessors
or any one
who would give her light,
she never spoke of these things,
and it was
more painful to speak of them
than if they had been grave sins;
for it seemed to her
that people must laugh
at her, [686] and
that these things were
womanish imaginations,
which she had always heard of
with disgust.
8. About thirteen years ago,
more or less,
after the house of St. Joseph
was founded,
into which she had gone
from the other monastery,
came the present Bishop
of Salamanca, Inquisitor,
I think, of Toledo,
previously of Seville,
Soto by name. [687]
She contrived to have
a conference with him
for her greater security, and
told him everything.
He replied,
that there was nothing
in all this
that concerned his office,
because everything
that she saw and heard
confirmed her the more
in the Catholic faith,
in which she
always was, and is, firm,
with most earnest desires for
the honour of God and
the good of souls,
willing to suffer death
many times
for one of them.
9.
He told her,
when he saw
how distressed she was,
- to give an account
of it all, and
of her whole life,
without omitting anything,
to the Master Avila,
who was a man
of great learning
in the way of prayer, and
- to rest content
with the answer he should give.
She did so, and described
her sins and
her life.
He wrote to her and comforted her,
giving her great security.
The account I gave
was such
that all those learned men
who saw it
--they were my confessors --
said that it was very profitable
for instruction in spiritual things;
and they commanded her to
- make copies of it, and
- write another little book [688]
for her daughters,
--she was prioress,--
wherein she might give them
some instructions.
10. Notwithstanding all this,
she was not without fears at times,
for she thought
that spiritual men also
might be deceived like herself.
She told her confessor
that he might discuss these things
with certain learned men,
though they were not
much given to prayer,
for she had no other desire
but that of knowing
whether what she experienced
was in conformity
with the sacred writings or not.
Now and then
she took comfort in thinking
that
-- though she herself,
because of her sins,
deserved to fall
into delusions --
our Lord would not suffer
so many good men,
anxious to give her light,
to be led into error.
11. Having this in view,
she began to communicate
with fathers of the Order
of the glorious St. Dominic,
to which,
before these things took place,
she had been to confession--
she does not say to them,
but to the Order. [689]
These are they
with whom she afterwards
had consultations.
The Father Fra Vicente Barron,
at that time Consultor
of the Holy Office,
heard her confessions
for eighteen months in Toledo,
and he had done so
very many years
before these things began.
He was a very learned man.
He reassured her greatly,
as did also
the fathers of the Society
spoken of before.
All used to say,
If she
does not sin against God, and
acknowledges her own misery,
what has she to be afraid of?
She confessed
to the Father
Fra Pedro Ibanez,
who was reader in Avila;
to the Father-Master
Fra Dominic Banes,
who is now in Valladolid
as rector
of the college
of St. Gregory,
I confessed for six years, and
whenever I had occasion
to do so
communicated with him
by letter;
also to the Master Chaves;
to the Father-Master
Fra Bartholomew of Medina,
professor in Salamanca,
of whom she knew
that he thought ill of her;
for she, having heard this,
thought that he,
thought that he,
better than any other,
could tell her
if she was deceived,
because he had
so little confidence in her.
This was more than two years ago
She contrived to
go to confession to him, and
gave him a full account
of everything
while she remained there;
and he saw
what she had written, [690]
for the purpose of attaining
to a better understanding
of the matter.
He reassured her so much,
and more than all the rest,
and remained her very good friend.
12. She went to confession also
to Fra Philip de Meneses,
when she founded
the monastery of Valladolid,
for he was rector
of the college of St. Gregory.
He, having before that
heard of her state,
had gone to Avila,
that he might speak to her,
--it was an act of great charity,--
being desirous of ascertaining
whether she was deluded,
so that he might enlighten her,
and, if she was not,
defend her
when he heard her spoken against;
and he was much satisfied.
13. She also conferred particularly
with Salinas, Dominican Provincial,
a man of great spirituality;
with another licentiate
named Lunar,
who was prior
of St. Thomas of Avila;
and, in Segovia,
with a reader,
Fra Diego de Yangües.
14. Of these Dominicans
some never failed
to give themselves greatly
to prayer,
and perhaps all did.
Some others also she consulted;
for in so many years, and
because of the fear she was in,
she had opportunities
of doing so,
especially as she went
about founding monasteries
in so many places.
Her spirit was tried enough,
for everybody wished
to be able to enlighten her,
and thereby reassured her
and themselves.
She always, at all times,
wished to submit herself
to whatever they enjoined her, and
she was therefore distressed
when, as to these spiritual things,
she could not obey them.
she could not obey them.
Both her own prayer,
and that of the nuns
she has established,
are always carefully directed
towards the propagation
of the faith;
and it was
for that purpose, and
for the good of her Order,
that she began her first monastery.
15. She used to say that
if any of these things
tended to lead her
against
the Catholic faith and
the law of God,
she would not need to seek
for learned men
nor tests,
because she would see at once
that they came from Satan.
She never undertook anything
merely because it came to her
in prayer;
on the contrary,
when her confessors bade her
do the reverse,
she did so without being
in the least troubled thereat, and
she always told them everything.
For all that they told her
that these things
that these things
came from God,
she never
so thoroughly believed them
that she could swear to it herself,
though it did seem to her
that they were spiritually safe,
because
of the effects thereof, and
of the great graces
which she at times received;
but she always desired virtues
more than anything else;
and this it is
that she has charged her nuns
to desire,
saying to them
that the most
humble and mortified
will be the most spiritual.
16. All that is told and written
she communicated
to the Father-Master
Fra Dominic Banes,
who is now in Valladolid, and
who is the person
with whom she
has had, and
has still,
the most frequent communications.
He sent her writings
to the Holy Office in Madrid,
so it is said.
In all this she submits herself to
the Catholic faith and
the Roman Church.
Nobody has found fault with them,
because
- these things are not
in the power of any man, and
- our Lord does not require
what is impossible.
17. The reason why
so much is known about her
so much is known about her
is that,
as she
- was in fear about herself, and
- described her state to so many,
-- these talked to one another
on the subject and
-- also the accident that happened
to what she had written. [691]
This has been to her
a very grievous torment
and cross,
and has cost her many tears.
She says
that this distress
is not the effect of humility,
but of the causes
already mentioned.
Our Lord seems
to have given permission [692]
for this torture
for if
one spoke
one spoke
more harshly of her
than others,
by little and little
he spoke
he spoke
more kindly of her.
18. She took the greatest pains
not to submit
the state of her soul
to any one
who she thought
would believe
that these things came from God,
for she was instantly afraid
that the devil would
deceive them both.
If she saw any one timid
about these things,
to him she laid bare her secrets
with the greater joy;
though also it gave her pain
when,
for the purpose of trying her,
these things were treated
with contempt,
for she thought some
were really from God,
and she would not have people,
even if they had good cause,
condemn them so absolutely;
neither would she
have them believe
that all were from God; and
because she knew perfectly well
that delusion was possible,
therefore it was
that she never thought herself
altogether safe in a matter
wherein there might be danger.
19. She used to strive
with all her might
never in any way
to offend God,
and was always obedient;
and by these means
she thought she might
obtain her deliverance,
by the help of God,
even if Satan were the cause.
20. Ever since she became subject
to these supernatural visitations,
her spirit is always inclined
to seek after that
which is most perfect, and
she had almost always
a great desire to suffer; and
in the persecutions she underwent,
and they were many,
she was comforted, and
had a particular affection
for her persecutors.
She had a great desire
to be poor and lonely, and
to depart out of this land of exile
in order to see God.
Through these effects,
and others like them,
she began to find peace,
thinking that a spirit
which could leave her
with these virtues
could not be an evil one,
and they who had
the charge of her soul
said so;
but it was a peace
that came
from diminished weariness,
not from the cessation of fear.
21. The spirit she is of
never urged her to make
any of these things known,
but to be always obedient. [693]
As it has been said already, [694]
she never saw anything
with her bodily eyes,
but in a way
so subtile and
so intellectual
that at first she sometimes thought
that all was
the effect of imagination;
at other times
she could not think so.
These things were not continual,
but occurred for the most part
when she was in some trouble:
as on one occasion,
when for some days
she had to bear
unendurable interior pains, and
a restlessness of soul
arising out of the fear
that she was deluded by Satan,
as it is described at length
in the account
she has given of it, [695]
and where her sins,
for they have been so public,
are mentioned
with the rest:
for the fear she was in
made her forget
her own good name.
22. Being thus in distress
such as cannot be described,
at the mere hearing interiorly
these words, [696]
"It is I, be not afraid,"
her soul became so calm,
courageous, and confident,
that she could not understand
whence so great a blessing
had come;
for her confessor
had not been able
--and many learned men,
with many words,
had not been able --
to give her
that peace and rest
which this one word
had given her.
And thus, at other times,
some vision gave her strength,
for without that
she could not have borne
such great trials and contradictions,
together with infirmities
without number,
and which she still has to bear,
though they are not so many,
--for she is never free
from some suffering or other,
more or less intense.
Her ordinary state
is constant pain,
with many other infirmities,
though since she became a nun
they are more troublesome,
if she is doing anything
in the service of our Lord.
And the mercies He shows her
pass quickly out of memory,
though she often dwells
on those mercies,
--but she is not able
to dwell so long
upon these
upon these
as upon her sins;
these are always
a torment to her,
most commonly
as filth smelling foully.
23. That her sins are
so many, and
her service of God
so scanty,
must be the reason why
she is not tempted to vainglory.
There never was anything
in any of these spiritual visitations
that was not wholly pure and clean,
nor does she think
it can be otherwise
if the spirit be good and
the visitations supernatural,
for she utterly neglects the body
and never thinks of it,
being wholly intent upon God.
24. She is also living
in great fear
about
sinning against God, and
doing His will in all things;
this is her continual prayer.
And she is, she thinks,
so determined
never to swerve from this,
that there is nothing
her confessors might enjoin her,
which she considers to be
for the greater honour
of our Lord,
that she would not
undertake and perform,
by the help of our Lord.
And confident
that His Majesty helps those
who have resolved
to advance His service and glory,
she thinks no more
of herself and
of her own progress,
in comparison with that,
than if she did not exist,
so far as she knows herself,
and her confessors think so too.
25. All that is written
in this paper
is the simple truth,
and they, and all others
who have had anything
to do with her for these twenty years,
can justify it.
Most frequently her spirit
urged her to praise God, and
she wished that all the world
gave itself up to that,
even though it should cost
her exceedingly.
Hence the desire she has
for the good of souls; and
from considering
how vile are the things
of this world, and
how precious are interior things,
with which nothing
can be compared,
she has attained to a contempt
of the world.
26. As for the vision
about which you, my father,
wish to know something,
it is of this kind:
she sees nothing
either outwardly or inwardly,
for the vision is not imaginary:
but, without seeing anything,
she understands
what it is, and
where it is,
more clearly than if she saw it,
only nothing in particular
presents itself to her.
She is like a person
who feels that another
is close beside her;
but because she is in the dark s
he sees him not,
yet is certain
that he is there present.
Still, this comparison is not exact;
for he, who is in the dark,
in some way or other,
through
hearing a noise or
having seen that person before,
knows he is there,
or knew it before;
but here
there is nothing of the kind,
for without a word,
inward or outward,
the soul clearly perceives
who it is,
where he is, and occasionally
what he means. [697]
Why, or how, she perceives it,
she knoweth not;
but so it is;
and while it lasts,
she cannot help being aware of it.
And when it is over,
-- though she may wish
ever so much
to retain the image thereof, --
she cannot do it,
for it is then clear to her
that it would be, in that case,
an act of the imagination,
not the vision itself,
-- that is not in her power;
and so it is
with the supernatural things.
And it is from this
it comes to pass
that he
in whom God works these graces
- despises himself, and
- becomes more humble
than he was ever before,
for he sees
that this is a gift of God, and
that he can
neither add to it
nor take from it.
The love and the desire
become greater
of serving our Lord,
who is so mighty
that He can do that which is more
than our imagination
can conceive here,
as there are things which men,
however learned they may be,
can never know.
Blessed for ever and ever be He
who bestows this! Amen.
___________________
Foot Notes:
[683] See [493]Life, ch. xxiv. § 4.
[684] See [494]Life, ch. xxv. § 18.
[685] See [495]Life, ch. xxv. § 20,
and [496]ch. xxvii. § 1.
[686] See [497]Life, ch. xxvi. § 5.
[687] Don Francisco de Soto y Salazar
was a native of Bonilli de la Sierra,
and Vicar-General of the Bishops of
Astorga and Avila,
and Canon of Avila;
Inquisitor of Cordova, Seville, and
Toledo;
Bishop, successively, of Albarracin,
Segorve, and Salamanca.
He died at Merida, in 1576, poisoned,
it was suspected, by the sect of the Illuminati,
who were alarmed at his faithful zeal and holy life
(Palafox, note to letter 19, vol. i. ed. Doblado).
"She went to the Inquisitor,
Don Francisco Soto de Salazar
- he was afterwards Bishop of Salamanca-
and said to him:
'My lord, I am subject to certain extraordinary
processes in prayer, such as ecstasies, raptures,
and revelations,
and do not wish to be deluded or deceived by Satan,
or to do anything that is not absolutely safe.
I give myself up to the Inquisition to try me,
and examine my ways of going on,
submitting myself to its orders.'
The Inquisitor replied:
'Senora, the business of the Inquisition
is not to try the spirit, nor to examine ways of prayer,
but to correct heretics.
Do you, then,
commit your experience to writing,
in all simplicity and truth,
and send it to the Father-Master Avila,
who is a man of great spirituality and learning,
and extremely conversant with matters of prayer;
and when you shall have his answer,
you may be sure there is nothing to be afraid of'"
(Jerome Gratian, Lucidario, cap. iii.).
[688] This book is the Way of Perfection,
written by direction of F. Banes.
[689] The Saint had such great affection
for the Order of St. Dominic,
that she used to say of herself,
"Yo soy la Dominica in passione",
meaning thereby
that she was in her heart a Dominicaness,
and a child of the Order
(Palafox, note to letter 16, vol. i. ed. Doblado).
[690] When this father had read the Life,
he had it copied, with the assent
of F. Gratian, and gave the copy
thus made to the Duchess of Alba
(De la Fuente).
[691] See Foundations, ch. xvii. § 12, note.
[692] [498]Life, ch. xxiii. § 15.
[693] [499]Life, ch. xxvi. § 5.
[694] [500] § 4.
[695] [501]Life, ch. xxv. § 19.
[696] [502]Life, ch. xxv. § 22.
[697] See [503]Life, ch. xxvii. § 5.
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~ End of Chapter 7 ~
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