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St. Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection
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The Way of Perfection
CHAPTER 13 - Continues to treat of mortification and explains how one must renounce the world's standards of wisdom in order to attain to true wisdom.
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CHAPTER
13
-
Continues
to
treat
of
mortification
and
explains
how one must
renounce
the
world
's
standards
of
wisdom
in
order
to
attain
to
true
wisdom
.
I often
tell
you,
sisters
, and now I
want
it to be
set
down in
writing
, not to
forget
that we in this
house
, and for that
matter
anyone who would be
perfect
, must
flee
a
thousand
leagues
from such
phrases
as: "I had
right
on my
side
"; "They had no
right
to do this to me"; "The
person
who
treated
me like this was not
right
".
God
deliver
us from such a
false
idea
of
right
as that! Do you
think
that it was
right
for our
good
Jesus
to have to
suffer
so many
insults
, and that those who
heaped
them on Him
40
were
right
, and that they had any
right
to do Him those
wrongs
? I do not
know
why anyone is in a
convent
who is
willing
to
bear
only the
crosses
that she has a
perfect
right
to
expect
: such a
person
should
return
to the
world
, though even there such
rights
will not be
safeguarded
. Do you
think
you can ever
possibly
have to
bear
so much that you
ought
not to have to
bear
any more? How does
right
enter
into the
matter
at all? I
really
do not
know
.
Before we begin
talking
about not
having
our
rights
, let us
wait
until we
receive
some
honour
or
gratification
, or are
treated
kindly
, for it is
certainly
not
right
that we should have anything in this
life
like that. When, on the other
hand
, some
offence
is done to us (and we do not
feel
it an
offence
to us that it should be so
described
), I do not
see
what we can
find
to
complain
of. Either we are the
brides
of this
great
King
or we are not. If we are, what
wife
is there with a
sense
of
honour
who does not
accept
her
share
in any
dishonour
done to her
spouse
, even though she
may
do so against her will? Each
partner
, in
fact
,
shares
in the
honour
and
dishonour
of the other. To
desire
to
share
in the
kingdom
[of our
Spouse
Jesus
Christ
], and to
enjoy
it, and yet not to be
willing
to have any
part
in His
dishonours
and
trials
, is
ridiculous
.
God
keep
us from
being
like that! Let the
sister
who
thinks
that she is
accounted
the least among all
consider
herself the [
happiest
and] most
fortunate
, as indeed she
really
is, if she
lives
her
life
as she should, for in that
case
she will, as a
rule
, have no
lack
of
honour
either in this
life
or in the next.
Believe
me when I
say
this -- what an
absurdity
, though, it is for me to
say
"
Believe
me" when the
words
come
from Him Who is
true
Wisdom
, Who is
Truth
Itself, and from the
Queen
of the
angels
! Let us, my
daughters
, in some
small
degree
,
imitate
the
great
humility
of the most
sacred
Virgin
, whose
habit
we
wear
and whose
nuns
we are
ashamed
to
call
ourselves. Let us at least
imitate
this
humility
of hers in some
degree
-- I
say
"in some
degree
" because, however much we
may
seem to
humble
ourselves, we
fall
far
short
of
being
the
daughters
of such a
Mother
, and the
brides
of such a
Spouse
. If, then, the
habits
I have
described
are not
sternly
checked
, what seems nothing
to-day
will perhaps be a
venial
sin
to-morrow
, and that is so
infectious
a
tendency
that, if you
leave
it alone, the
sin
will not be the only one for
long
; and that is a very
bad
thing
for
communities
.
We who
live
in a
community
should
consider
this very
carefully
, so as not to
harm
those who
labour
to
benefit
us and to
set
us a
good
example
. If we
realize
what
great
harm
is done by the
formation
of a
bad
habit
of
over-punctiliousness
about our
honour
, we should rather
die
a
thousand
deaths
than be the
cause
of such a
thing
. For only the
body
would
die
, whereas the
loss
of a
soul
is a
great
loss
which is
apparently
without end; some of us will
die
, but others will
take
our
places
and perhaps they
may
all be
harmed
more by the one
bad
habit
which we
started
than they are
benefited
by many
virtues
. For the
devil
does not
allow
a
single
bad
habit
to
disappear
and the very
weakness
of our
mortal
nature
destroys
the
virtues
in us.
Oh
, what a
real
charity
it would be, and what a
service
would be
rendered
to
God
, if any
nun
who
sees
that she cannot [
endure
and]
conform
to the
customs
of this
house
would
recognize
the
fact
and
go
away [before
being
professed
, as I have
said
elsewhere], and
leave
the other
sisters
in
peace
! And no
convent
(at least, if it
follows
my
advice
) will
take
her or
allow
her to make her
profession
until they have
given
her many
years
'
probation
to
see
if she
improves
. I am not
referring
to
shortcomings
affecting
penances
and
fasts
, for, although these are
wrong
, they are not
things
which do so much
harm
. I am
thinking
of
nuns
who are of such a
temperament
that they like to be
esteemed
and made much of; who
see
the
faults
of others but never
recognize
their own; and who are
deficient
in other
ways
like these, the
true
source
of which is
want
of
humility
. If
God
does not
help
such a
person
by
bestowing
great
spirituality
upon her, until after many
years
she becomes
greatly
improved
,
may
God
preserve
you from
keeping
her in your
community
. For you must
realize
that she will neither have
peace
there herself nor
allow
you to have any.
As you do not
take
dowries
,
God
is very
gracious
to you in this
respect
. It
grieves
me that
religious
houses
should often
harbour
one who is a
thief
and
robs
them of their
treasure
, either because they are
unwilling
to
return
a
dowry
or out of
regard
for the
relatives
. In this
house
you have
risked
losing
worldly
honour
and
forgone
it (for no such
honour
is
paid
to those who are
poor
); do not
desire
, then, that others should be
honoured
at such a
cost
to yourselves. Our
honour
,
sisters
, must
lie
in the
service
of
God
, and, if anyone
thinks
to
hinder
you in this, she had
better
keep
her
honour
and
stay
at
home
. It was with this in
mind
that our
Fathers
ordered
a
year
's
probation
(which in our
Order
we are
free
to
extend
to
four
years
):
personally
, I should like it to be
prolonged
to
ten
years
. A
humble
nun
will
mind
very
little
if she is not
professed
: for she
knows
that if she is
good
she will not be
sent
away, and if she is not, why should she
wish
to do
harm
to one of
Christ
's
communities
?
41
By not
being
good
, I do not
mean
being
fond
of
vanities
, which, I
believe
, with the
help
of
God
, will be a
fault
far
removed
from the
nuns
in this
house
. I am
referring
to a
want
of
mortification
and an
attachment
to
worldly
things
and to
self-interest
in the
matter
which I have
described
. Let anyone who
knows
that she is not
greatly
mortified
take
my
advice
and not make her
profession
if she does not
wish
to
suffer
a
hell
on
earth
, and
God
grant
there
may
not be another
hell
awaiting
such a
nun
in the
world
to
come
! There are many
reasons
why she should
fear
there
may
belt
and
possibly
neither she nor her
sisters
may
realize
this as well as I do.
Believe
what I
say
here; if you will not, I must
leave
it to
time
to
prove
the
truth
of my
words
. For the whole
manner
of
life
we are
trying
to
live
is
making
us, not only
nuns
, but
hermits
[like the
holy
Fathers
our
predecessors
] and
leading
us to
detachment
from all
things
created
. I have
observed
that anyone whom the
Lord
has
specially
chosen
for this
life
is
granted
that
favour
. She
may
not have it in
full
perfection
, but that she has it will be
evident
from the
great
joy
and
gladness
that such
detachment
gives
her, and she will never have any more to do with
worldly
things
, for her
delight
will be in all the
practices
of the
religious
life
. I
say
once more that anyone who is
inclined
to
things
of the
world
should
leave
the
convent
42
if she
sees
she is not
making
progress
. If she still
wishes
to be a
nun
she should
go
to another
convent
; if she does not, she will
see
what
happens
to her. She must not
complain
of me as the
foundress
of this
convent
and
say
I have not
warned
her.
This
house
is another
Heaven
, if it be
possible
to have
Heaven
upon
earth
. Anyone whose
sole
pleasure
lies
in
pleasing
God
and who
cares
nothing for her own
pleasure
will
find
our
life
a very
good
one; if she
wants
anything more, she will
lose
everything, for there is nothing more that she can have. A
discontented
soul
is like a
person
suffering
from
severe
nausea
, who
rejects
all
food
, however
nice
it
may
be;
things
which
persons
in
good
health
delight
in
eating
only
cause
her the
greater
loathing
. Such a
person
will
save
her
soul
better
elsewhere than here; she
may
even
gradually
reach
a
degree
of
perfection
which she could not have
attained
here because we
expected
too much of her all at once. For although we
allow
time
for the
attainment
of
complete
detachment
and
mortification
in
interior
matters
, in
externals
this has to be
practised
immediately
, because of the
harm
which
may
otherwise
befall
the
rest
; and anyone who
sees
this
being
done, and
spends
all her
time
in such
good
company
, and yet, at the end of
six
months
or a
year
, has made no
progress
, will, I
fear
, make none over a
great
many
years
, and will even
go
backward
. I do not
say
that such a
nun
must be as
perfect
as the
rest
, but she must be
sure
that her
soul
is
gradually
growing
healthier
-- and it will
soon
become
clear
if her
disease
is
mortal
.
40
Lit
.: "did them to Him."
41
Lit
.: "to this
college
of
Christ
."
42
I.e.
,
St
.
Joseph
's,
çvila
.
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