St. Teresa of Avila

 

I read The Book of My Life for Lent, and found it anything but lenten. She is funny and smart and always focused on the point. It was a wonderful beginning for a study of the mystics. Here's some of the bounty I found along the way.

for me. "That's why it can be such an intense relief to see yourself described in a book. It's affirming to discover that you are on the right path after all."

for J. "All I needed to know was that God was in charge of everything.

for T. "It is clear that all the Beloved wants of us is humility and holy bewilderment. He wants us to accept what we are given and praise the one who gives it."

for H. "This kind of self-loathing is one of the spirit of evil's most insidious, painful and deceptive tricks. I'm warning you about this so that if he tries to tempt you in this way, you will have the foresight to recognize it. Don't think it's a matter of of academic learning or theological knowledge. Even though I am impoverished in these areas, the minute I escape from his clutches, it is obvious to me that my negative feelings were goundless."

for S. "I began to talk to The Lord in that silly way of mine. I don't know what I'm saying when this happens. It's love that's talking. My soul becomes so transported that I can no longer tell any difference between her and God."

for N. "Pay no attention to the scarecrows the spirit of evil sets up to frighten us. Remember, every time we ignore them, they grow weaker and we gain more mastery."

for K. "Once when I was especially worried about this, The Lord spoke to me. "What are you afraid of?" he asked. "Only one of two things could come of it. People will either criticize you or praise me." He explained that the people who believed in the experience would praise him and those who didn't would condemn me. It wasn't my problem. Either way, the outcome would benefit me, so I shouldn't be anxious."

for R. "The fact is I have so little time to give to this writing certainly does not help my ability to be able to explain this very well. Therefore, his Majesty must come to my rescue. Living in a house that was so recently founded, I am inundated with community duties and other related business. I can only write in fits and spurts, and I can never really settle down into it. I wish I had more space to write, because when The Lord gives me inspiration, the words flow with great ease and clarity. Then writing is just like sketching a model that is sitting right in front of me.
But when inspiration is lacking, it doesn't matter how many years a person might have spent in prayer, my words make no more sense that if I were speaking Arabic, as the saying goes. And so it seems to me that my only hope is to enter a state of prayer while I am writing. That's when I can clearly see that I am not the one doing the writing. I'm not the one planning out in my mind what I'm going to say nor do I understand afterward how I managed to say it at all. This happens to me often."

for us all. "I wish that the five [8] of us friends who love each other in Christ could make a pact. We would gather together on a regular basis for the purpose of freeing each other from illusion. We would suggest ways in which each of us could improve our relationship with God. No one knows himself as well as someone close to him who observes him with love and concern for his spiritual growth.