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St. Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection
IntraText CT - Text
The Way of Perfection
CHAPTER 2 - Treats of how the necessities of the body should be disregarded and of the good that comes from poverty.
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CHAPTER
2
-
Treats
of how the
necessities
of the
body
should be
disregarded
and of the
good
that
comes
from
poverty
.
Do not
think
, my
sisters
, that because you do not
go
about
trying
to
please
people
in the
world
you will
lack
food
. You will not, I
assure
you: never
try
to
sustain
yourselves by
human
artifices
, or you will
die
of
hunger
, and
rightly
so.
Keep
your
eyes
fixed
upon your
Spouse
: it is for Him to
sustain
you; and, if He is
pleased
with you, even those who like you least will
give
you
food
, if
unwillingly
, as you have found by
experience
. If you should do as I
say
and yet
die
of
hunger
, then
happy
are the
nuns
of
Saint
Joseph
's! For the
love
of the
Lord
, let us not
forget
this: you have
forgone
a
regular
income
;
forgo
worry
about
food
as well, or thou will
lose
everything. Let those whom the
Lord
wishes
to
live
on an
income
do so: if that is their
vocation
, they are
perfectly
justified
; but for us to do so,
sisters
, would be
inconsistent
.
Worrying
about
getting
money
from other
people
seems to me like
thinking
about what other
people
enjoy
. However much you
worry
, you will not make them
change
their
minds
nor will they become
desirous
of
giving
you
alms
.
Leave
these
anxieties
to Him Who can
move
everyone, Who is the
Lord
of all
money
and of all who
possess
money
. It is by His
command
that we have
come
here and His
words
are
true
-- they cannot
fail
:
Heaven
and
earth
will
fail
first.
14
Let us not
fail
Him, and let us have no
fear
that He will
fail
us; if He should ever do so it will be for our
greater
good
,
just
as the
saints
failed
to
keep
their
lives
when they were
slain
for the
Lord
's
sake
, and their
bliss
was
increased
through their
martyrdom
. We should be
making
a
good
exchange
if we could have done with this
life
quickly
and
enjoy
everlasting
satiety
.
Remember
,
sisters
, that this will be
important
when I am
dead
; and that is why I am
leaving
it to you in
writing
. For, with
God
's
help
, as
long
as I
live
, I will
remind
you of it myself, as I
know
by
experience
what a
great
help
it will be to you. It is when I
possess
least that I have the
fewest
worries
and the
Lord
knows
that, as
far
as I can
tell
, I am more
afflicted
when there is
excess
of anything than when there is
lack
of it; I am not
sure
if that is the
Lord
's
doing
, but I have
noticed
that He
provides
for us
immediately
. To
act
otherwise would be to
deceive
the
world
by
pretending
to be
poor
when we are not
poor
in
spirit
but only
outwardly
. My
conscience
would
give
me a
bad
time
. It seems to me it would be like
stealing
what was
being
given
us, as one might
say
; for I should
feel
as if we were
rich
people
asking
alms
:
please
God
this
may
never be so. Those who
worry
too much about the
alms
that they are likely to be
given
will
find
that
sooner
or later this
bad
habit
will
lead
them to
go
and
ask
for something which they do not
need
, and perhaps from someone who
needs
it more than they do. Such a
person
would
gain
rather than
lose
by
giving
it us but we should
certainly
be the
worse
off for
having
it.
God
forbid
this should ever
happen
, my
daughters
; if it were likely to do so, I should
prefer
you to have a
regular
income
.
I
beg
you, for the
love
of
God
,
just
as if I were
begging
alms
for you, never to
allow
this to
occupy
your
thoughts
. If the very least of you ever
hears
of such a
thing
happening
in this
house
,
cry
out about it to His
Majesty
and
speak
to your
Superior
.
Tell
her
humbly
that she is
doing
wrong
; this is so
serious
a
matter
that it
may
cause
true
poverty
gradually
to
disappear
. I
hope
in the
Lord
that this will not be so and that He will not
forsake
His
servants
; and for that
reason
, if for no other, what you have
told
me to
write
may
be
useful
to you as a
reminder
.
My
daughters
must
believe
that it is for their own
good
that the
Lord
has
enabled
me to
realize
in some
small
degree
what
blessings
are to be found in
holy
poverty
. Those of them who
practise
it will also
realize
this, though perhaps not as
clearly
as I do; for, although I had
professed
poverty
, I was not only without
poverty
of
spirit
, but my
spirit
was
devoid
of all
restraint
.
Poverty
is
good
and
contains
within itself all the
good
things
in the
world
. It is a
great
domain
-- I
mean
that he who
cares
nothing for the
good
things
of the
world
has
dominion
over them all. What do
kings
and
lords
matter
to me if I have no
desire
to
possess
their
money
, or to
please
them, if by so
doing
I should
cause
the least
displeasure
to
God
? And what do their
honours
mean
to me if I have
realized
that the
chief
honour
of a
poor
man
consists
in his
being
truly
poor
?
For my own
part
, I
believe
that
honour
and
money
nearly
always
go
together, and that he who
desires
honour
never
hates
money
, while he who
hates
money
cares
little
for
honour
.
Understand
this
clearly
, for I
think
this
concern
about
honour
always
implies
some
slight
regard
for
endowments
or
money
:
seldom
or never is a
poor
man
honoured
by the
world
; however
worthy
of
honour
he
may
be, he is
apt
rather to be
despised
by it. With
true
poverty
there
goes
a
different
kind
of
honour
to which nobody can
take
objection
. I
mean
that, if
poverty
is
embraced
for
God
's
sake
alone, no one has to be
pleased
save
God
. It is
certain
that a
man
who has no
need
of anyone has many
friends
: in my own
experience
I have found this to be very
true
.
A
great
deal
has been
written
about this
virtue
which I cannot
understand
, still less
express
, and I should only be
making
things
worse
if I were to
eulogize
it, so I will
say
no more about it now. I have only
spoken
of what I have myself
experienced
and I
confess
that I have been so much
absorbed
that until now I have
hardly
realized
what I have been
writing
. However, it has been
said
now. Our
arms
are
holy
poverty
, which was so
greatly
esteemed
and so
strictly
observed
by our
holy
Fathers
at the beginning of the
foundation
of our
Order
. (Someone who
knows
about this
tells
me that they never
kept
anything from one
day
to the next.) For the
love
of the
Lord
, then, [I
beg
you] now that the
rule
of
poverty
is less
perfectly
observed
as
regards
outward
things
, let us
strive
to
observe
it
inwardly
. Our
life
lasts
only for a
couple
of
hours
; our
reward
is
boundless
; and, if there were no
reward
but to
follow
the
counsels
given
us by the
Lord
, to
imitate
His
Majesty
in any
degree
would
bring
us a
great
recompense
.
These
arms
must
appear
on our
banners
and at all
costs
we must
keep
this
rule
-- as
regards
our
house
, our
clothes
, our
speech
, and (which is much more
important
) our
thoughts
. So
long
as this is done, there
need
be no
fear
, with the
help
of
God
, that
religious
observances
in this
house
will
decline
, for, as
Saint
Clare
said
, the
walls
of
poverty
are very
strong
. It was with these
walls
, she
said
, and with those of
humility
, that she
wished
to
surround
her
convents
; and
assuredly
, if the
rule
of
poverty
is
truly
kept
, both
chastity
and all the other
virtues
are
fortified
much
better
than by the most
sumptuous
edifices
. Have a
care
to this, for the
love
of
God
; and this I
beg
of you by His
blood
. If I
may
say
what my
conscience
bids
me, I should
wish
that, on the
day
when you
build
such
edifices
, they
15
may
fall
down and
kill
you all.
It seems very
wrong
, my
daughters
, that
great
houses
should be
built
with the
money
of the
poor
;
may
God
forbid
that this should be done; let our
houses
be
small
and
poor
in every
way
. Let us to some
extent
resemble
our
King
, Who had no
house
save
the
porch
in
Bethlehem
where He was
born
and the
Cross
on which He
died
. These were
houses
where
little
comfort
could be found. Those who
erect
large
houses
will no
doubt
have
good
reasons
for
doing
so. I do not
utterly
condemn
them: they are
moved
by
various
holy
intentions
. But any
corner
is
sufficient
for
thirteen
poor
women
. If
grounds
should be
thought
necessary
on
account
of the
strictness
of the
enclosure
, and also as an
aid
to
prayer
and
devotion
, and because our
miserable
nature
needs
such
things
, well and
good
; and let there be a few
hermitages
16
in them in which the
sisters
may
go
to
pray
. But as for a
large
ornate
convent
, with a
lot
of
buildings
--
God
preserve
us from that! Always
remember
that these
things
will all
fall
down on the
Day
of
Judgment
, and who
knows
how
soon
that will be?
It would
hardly
look
well if the
house
of
thirteen
poor
women
made a
great
noise
when it
fell
, for those who are
really
poor
must make no
noise
: unless they
live
a
noiseless
life
people
will never
take
pity
on them. And how
happy
my
sisters
will be if they
see
someone
freed
from
hell
by
means
of the
alms
which he has
given
them; and this is
quite
possible
, since they are
strictly
bound
to
offer
continual
prayer
for
persons
who
give
them
food
. It is also
God
's will that, although the
food
comes
from Him, we should
thank
the
persons
by whose
means
He
gives
it to us: let there be no
neglect
of this.
I do not
remember
what I had
begun
to
say
, for I have
strayed
from my
subject
. But I
think
this must have been the
Lord
's will, for I never
intended
to
write
what I have
said
here.
May
His
Majesty
always
keep
us in His
hand
so that we
may
never
fall
.
Amen
.
14
An
apparent
reference
to
St
.
Mark
xiii
,
31
.
15
In the
Spanish
the
subject
is in the
singular
:
P
.
B
‡-
ez
inserted
"the
house
", but
crossed
this out later.
16
St
.
Teresa
liked
to have
hermitages
in the
grounds
of her
convents
to
give
the
nuns
opportunity
for
solitude
.
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