Table of Contents
|
Words
:
Alphabetical
-
Frequency
-
Inverse
-
Length
-
Statistics
|
Help
|
IntraText Library
St. Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection
IntraText CT - Text
The Way of Perfection
CHAPTER 40 - Describes how, by striving always to walk in the love and fear of God, we shall travel safely amid all these temptations.
Previous
-
Next
Click here to hide the links to concordance
CHAPTER
40
-
Describes
how, by
striving
always to
walk
in the
love
and
fear
of
God
, we shall
travel
safely
amid
all these
temptations
.
Show
us, then,
O
our
good
Master
, some
way
in which we
may
live
through this most
dangerous
warfare
without
frequent
surprise
. The
best
way
that we can do this,
daughters
, is to
use
the
love
and
fear
given
us by His
Majesty
. For
love
will make us
quicken
our
steps
, while
fear
will make us
look
where we are
setting
our
feet
so that we shall not
fall
on a
road
where there are so many
obstacles
. Along that
road
all
living
creatures
must
pass
, and if we have these
two
things
we shall
certainly
not be
deceived
.
You will
ask
me how you can
tell
if you
really
have these
two
very, very
great
virtues
.
138
You are
right
to
ask
, for we can never be
quite
definite
and
certain
about it; if we were
sure
that we
possessed
love
, we should be
sure
that we were in a
state
of
grace
. But you
know
,
sisters
, there are some
indications
which are in no
way
secret
but so
evident
that even a
blind
man
, as
people
say
, could
see
them. You
may
not
wish
to
heed
them, but they
cry
so
loud
for
notice
that they make
quite
an
uproar
, for there are not many who
possess
them to the
point
of
perfection
and thus they are the more
readily
noticed
.
Love
and
fear
of
God
! These are
two
strong
castles
whence we can
wage
war
on the
world
and on the
devils
.
Those who
really
love
God
love
all
good
,
seek
all
good
,
help
forward
all
good
,
praise
all
good
, and
invariably
join
forces
with
good
men
and
help
and
defend
them. They
love
only
truth
and
things
worthy
of
love
. Do you
think
it
possible
that anyone who
really
and
truly
loves
God
can
love
vanities
,
riches
,
worldly
pleasures
or
honours
? Can he
engage
in
strife
or
feel
envy
? No; for his only
desire
is to
please
the
Beloved
. Such
persons
die
with
longing
for Him to
love
them and so they will
give
their
lives
to
learn
how they
may
please
Him
better
. Will they
hide
their
love
? No: if their
love
for
God
is
genuine
love
they cannot. Why,
think
of
Saint
Paul
or the
Magdalen
. One of these --
Saint
Paul
-- found in
three
days
that he was
sick
with
love
. The
Magdalen
discovered
this on the very first
day
. And how
certain
of it they were! For there are
degrees
of
love
for
God
, which
shows
itself in
proportion
to its
strength
. If there is
little
of it, it
shows
itself but
little
; if there is much, it
shows
itself a
great
deal
. But it always
shows
itself, whether
little
or much,
provided
it is
real
love
for
God
.
But to
come
to what we are
chiefly
treating
of now -- the
deceptions
and
illusions
practised
against
contemplatives
by the
devil
-- such
souls
have no
little
love
; for had they not a
great
deal
they would not be
contemplatives
, and so their
love
shows
itself
plainly
and in many
ways
.
Being
a
great
fire
, it cannot
fail
to
give
out a very
bright
light
. If they have not much
love
, they should
proceed
with many
misgivings
and
realize
that they have
great
cause
for
fear
; and they should
try
to
find
out what is
wrong
with them,
say
their
prayers
,
walk
in
humility
and
beseech
the
Lord
not to
lead
them into
temptation
, into which, I
fear
, they will
certainly
fall
unless they
bear
this
sign
. But if they
walk
humbly
and
strive
to
discover
the
truth
and do as their
confessor
bids
them and
tell
him the
plain
truth
, then the
Lord
is
faithful
, and, as has been
said
, by using the very
means
with which he had
thought
to
give
them
death
, the
devil
will
give
them
life
, with however many
fantasies
and
illusions
he
tries
to
deceive
them. If they
submit
to the
teaching
of the
Church
, they
need
not
fear
; whatever
fantasies
and
illusions
the
devil
may
invent
, he will at once
betray
his
presence
.
But if you
feel
this
love
for
God
which I have
spoken
of, and the
fear
which I shall now
describe
, you
may
go
on your
way
with
happiness
and
tranquillity
. In
order
to
disturb
the
soul
and
keep
it from
enjoying
these
great
blessings
, the
devil
will
suggest
to it a
thousand
false
fears
and will
persuade
other
people
to do the same; for if he cannot
win
souls
he will at least
try
to make them
lose
something, and among the
losers
will be those who might have
gained
greatly
had they
believed
that such
great
favours
,
bestowed
upon so
miserable
a
creature
,
come
from
God
, and that it is
possible
for them to be thus
bestowed
, for sometimes we seem to
forget
His
past
mercies
.
Do you
suppose
that it is of
little
use
to the
devil
to
suggest
these
fears
? No, it is most
useful
to him, for there are
two
well-known
ways
in which he can make
use
of this
means
to
harm
us, to
say
nothing of others. First, he can make those who
listen
to him
fearful
of
engaging
in
prayer
, because they
think
that they will be
deceived
.
Secondly
, he can
dissuade
many from
approaching
God
who, as I have
said
,
see
that He is so
good
that He will
hold
intimate
converse
with
sinners
. Many such
souls
think
that He will
treat
them in the same
way
, and they are
right
: I myself
know
certain
persons
inspired
in this
way
who
began
the
habit
of
prayer
and in a
short
time
became
truly
devout
and
received
great
favours
from the
Lord
.
Therefore,
sisters
, when you
see
someone to whom the
Lord
is
granting
these
favours
,
praise
Him
fervently
, yet do not
imagine
that she is
safe
, but
aid
her with more
prayer
, for no one can be
safe
in this
life
amid
the
engulfing
dangers
of this
stormy
sea
. Wherever this
love
is, then, you will not
fail
to
recognize
it; I do not
know
how it could be
concealed
. For they
say
that it is
impossible
for us to
hide
our
love
even for
creatures
, and that, the more we
try
to
conceal
it, the more
clearly
is it
revealed
. And yet this is so
worthless
that it
hardly
deserves
the
name
of
love
, for it is
founded
upon nothing at all: it is
loathsome
, indeed, to make this
comparison
. How, then, could a
love
like
God
's be
concealed
-- so
strong
, so
righteous
,
continually
increasing
, never
seeing
cause
for
ceasing
to
manifest
itself, and
resting
upon the
firm
foundation
of the
love
which is its
reward
? As to the
reality
of this
reward
there can be no
doubt
, for it is
manifest
in Our
Lord
's
great
sorrows
, His
trials
, the
shedding
of His
blood
and even the
loss
of His
life
.
Certainly
, then, there is no
doubt
as to this
love
. It is indeed
love
, and
deserves
that
name
, of which
worldly
vanities
have
robbed
it.
God
help
me! How
different
must the one
love
be from the other to those who have
experience
of both!
May
His
Majesty
be
pleased
to
grant
us to
experience
this before He
takes
us from this
life
, for it will be a
great
thing
at the
hour
of
death
, when we are
going
we
know
not whither, to
realize
that we shall be
judged
by One Whom we have
loved
above all
things
, and with a
passion
that makes us
entirely
forget
ourselves. Once our
debts
have been
paid
we shall be
able
to
walls
in
safety
. We shall not be
going
into a
foreign
land
, but into our own
country
, for it
belongs
to Him Whom we have
loved
so
truly
and Who Himself
loves
us. For this
love
of His, besides its other
properties
, is
better
than all
earthly
affection
in that, if we
love
Him, we are
quite
sure
that He
loves
us too.
Remember
, my
daughters
, the
greatness
of the
gain
which
comes
from this
love
, and of our
loss
if we do not
possess
it, for in that
case
we shall be
delivered
into the
hands
of the
tempter
,
hands
so
cruel
and so
hostile
to all that is
good
, and so
friendly
to all that is
evil
.
What will become of the
poor
soul
when it
falls
into these
hands
after
emerging
from all the
pains
and
trials
of
death
? How
little
rest
it will have! How it will be
torn
as it
goes
down to
hell
! What
swarms
and
varieties
of
serpents
it will
meet
! How
dreadful
is that
place
! How
miserable
that
lodging
! Why, a
pampered
person
(and most of those who
go
to
hell
are that) can
hardly
bear
to
spend
a
single
night
in a
bad
inn
: what, then, will be the
feelings
of that
wretched
soul
when it is
condemned
to such an
inn
as this and has to
spend
eternity
there?
139
Let us not
try
to
pamper
ourselves,
daughters
. We are
quite
well off here: there is only a
single
night
for us to
spend
in this
bad
inn
. Let us
praise
God
and
strive
to do
penance
in this
life
. How
sweet
will be the
death
of those who have done
penance
for all their
sins
and have not to
go
to
purgatory
! It
may
be that they will begin to
enjoy
glory
even in this
world
, and will
know
no
fear
, but only
peace
.
Even if we do not
attain
to this,
sisters
, let us
beseech
God
that, if in
due
course
we must
suffer
these
pains
, it
may
be with a
hope
of
emerging
from them. Then we shall
suffer
them
willingly
and
lose
neither the
friendship
nor the
grace
of
God
.
May
He
grant
us these in this
life
so that we
may
not
unwittingly
fall
into
temptation
.
138
Lit
.: "these
two
virtues
, so
great
, so
great
."
139
Lit
.: "to an
inn
for ever, ever, for
eternity
." The
repetition
of "ever" (
siempre
)
reminds
one of the
famous
reminiscence
of
St
.
Teresa
's
childhood
, to be found in her
Life
,
Chap
. I.
Previous
-
Next
Table of Contents
|
Words
:
Alphabetical
-
Frequency
-
Inverse
-
Length
-
Statistics
|
Help
|
IntraText Library
Best viewed with any browser at 800x600 or 768x1024 on Tablet PC
IntraText®
(V89) - Some rights reserved by
EuloTech SRL
- 1996-2007. Content in this page is licensed under a
Creative Commons License