CHAPTER II.

CONTINUES THE SAME SUBJECT AND SPEAKS OF ARIDITIES IN PRAYER AND THEIR

RESULTS: OF THE NECESSITY OF TRYING OURSELVES AND HOW OUR LORD PROVES THOSE

WHO ARE IN THESE MANSIONS.

1. Imperfections of dwellers in the first three mansions. 2. Our trials show

us our weakness. 3. Humility learnt by our faults. 4. Love of money. 5.

Liberty of spirit. 6. On bearing contempt. 7. Detachment proved by trials.

8. Virtue and humility are the essentials. 9. Perfection requires

detachment. 10. We should try to make rapid progress. 11. Leave our cares in

God's hands. 12. Humility more necessary than corporal penances. 13.

Consolations rarely received until the fourth mansions. 14. Advantages of

hearing of them. 15. Perfection consists in love, not in reward. 16. St.

Teresa's joy at seeing other souls favoured. 17. These graces should be

striven for. 18. Obedience and direction, 19. Misguided zeal for others.

1. I HAVE known some, in fact, I may say numerous souls, who have reached

this state, and for many years lived, apparently, a regular and well-ordered

life, both of body and mind. It would seem that they must have gained the

mastery over this world, or at least be extremely detached from it, yet if

His Majesty sends very moderate trials they become so disturbed and

disheartened as not only to astonish but to make me anxious about them.

Advice is useless; having practised virtue for so long they think themselves

capable of teaching it, and believe that they have abundant reason to feel

miserable.

2. The only way to help them is to compassionate their troubles; [97]

indeed, one cannot but feel sorry at seeing people in such an unhappy state.

They must not be argued with, for they are convinced they suffer only for

God's sake, and cannot be made to understand they are acting imperfectly,

which is a further error in persons so far advanced. No wonder that they

should feel these trials for a time, but I think they ought speedily to

overcome their concern about such matters. God, wishing His elect to realize

their own misery, often temporarily withdraws His favours: no more is needed

to prove to us in a very short time what we really are. [98]

3. Souls soon learn in this way; they perceive their faults very clearly,

and sometimes the discovery of how quickly they are overcome by but slight

earthly trials is more painful than the subtraction of God's sensible

favours. I consider that God thus shows them great mercy, for though their

behaviour may be faulty, yet they gain greatly in humility. Not so with the

people of whom I first spoke; they believe their conduct is saintly, and

wish others to agree with them. I will give you some examples which will

help us to understand and to try ourselves, without waiting for God to try

us, since it would be far better to have prepared and examined ourselves

beforehand.

4. A rich man, without son or heir, loses part of his property, [99] but

still has more than enough to keep himself and his household. If this

misfortune grieves and disquiets him as though he were left to beg his

bread, how can our Lord ask him to give up all things for His sake? This man

will tell you he regrets losing his money because he wished to bestow it on

the poor.

5. I believe His Majesty would prefer me to conform to His will, and keep

peace of soul while attending to my interests, to such charity as this. If

this person cannot resign himself because God has not raised him so high in

virtue, well and good: let him know that he is wanting in liberty of spirit;

let him beg our Lord to grant it him, and be rightly disposed to receive it.

Another person has more than sufficient means to live on, when an

opportunity occurs for acquiring more property: if it is offered him, by all

means let him accept it; but if he must go out of his way to obtain it and

then continues working to gain more and more--however good his intention may

be (and it must be good, for I am speaking of people who lead prayerful and

good lives), he cannot possibly enter the mansions near the King.

6. Something of the same sort happens if such people meet with contempt or

want of due respect. God often gives them grace to bear it well, as He loves

to see virtue upheld in public, and will not have it condemned in those who

practise it, or else because these persons have served Him faithfully, and

He, our supreme Good, is exceedingly good to us all; nevertheless, these

persons are disturbed, and cannot overcome or get rid of the feeling for

some time. [100] Alas! have they not long meditated on the pains our Lord

endured and how well it is for us to suffer, and have even longed to do so?

They wish every one were as virtuous as they are; and God grant they do not

consider other people to blame for their troubles and attribute merit to

themselves!

7. You may think, my daughters, that I have wandered from the subject, for

all this does not concern you: nothing of the sort occurs to us here, where

we neither own nor wish for any property, nor endeavour to gain it, and no

one does us any wrong. The instances I have mentioned do not coincide

exactly, yet conclusions applicable to us may be drawn from them, which it

would be neither well nor necessary to state. These will teach you whether

you are really detached from all you have left; trifling occasions often

occur, although perhaps not quite of the same kind, by which you can prove

to yourselves whether you have obtained the mastery over your passions.

8. Believe me, the question is not whether we wear the religious habit or

not, but whether we practise the virtues and submit our will in all things

to the will of God. The object of our life must be to do what He requires of

us: let us not ask that our will may be done, but His. If we have not yet

attained to this, let us be humble, as I said above. Humility is the

ointment for our wounds; if we have it, although perhaps He may defer His

coming for a time, God, Who is our Physician, will come and heal us. 9. The

penances performed by the persons I spoke of are as well regulated as their

life, which they value very highly because they wish to serve our Lord with

it--in which there is nothing to blame--so they are very discreet in their

mortifications lest they should injure their health. Never fear they will

: they are far too sensible! Their love is not strong enough

to overcome their reason; I wish it were--that they might not be content to

creep on their way to God: a pace that will never bring them to their

journey's end!

10. We seem to ourselves to be making progress, yet we become weary, for,

believe me, we are walking through a mist; it will be fortunate if we do not

lose ourselves. Do you think, my daughters, if we could travel from one

country to another in eight days, that it would be well to spend a year on

the journey, through wind, snow, and inundations and over bad roads? [101]

Would it not be better to get it over at once, for it is full of dangers and

serpents? Oh, how many striking instances could I give you of this! God

grant that I have passed beyond this state myself: often I think that I have

not.

11. All things obstruct us while prudence rules our actions; we are afraid

of everything and therefore fear to make progress--as if we could reach the

inner chambers while others make the journey for us! As this is impossible,

sisters, for the love of God let us exert ourselves, and leave our reason

and our fears in His hands, paying no attention to the weaknesses of nature

which might retard us. Let our Superiors, to whom the charge belongs, look

after our bodies; let our only care be to hasten to our Lord's presence--for

though there are few or no indulgences to be obtained here, yet, regard for

health might mislead us and it would be none the better for our care, as I

know well.

12. I know, too, that our bodies are not the chief factors in the work we

have before us; they are accessory: extreme humility is the principal point.

It is the want of this, I believe, that stops people's progress. It may seem

that we have made but little way: we should believe that is the case, and

that our sisters are advancing much more rapidly than we are. Not only

should we wish others to consider us the worst of all; we should endeavour

to make them think so. If we act in this manner, our soul will do well;

otherwise we shall make no progress and shall always remain the prey to a

thousand troubles and miseries. The way will be difficult and wearisome

without self-renunciation, weighed down as we are by the burden and

frailties of human nature, which are no longer felt in the more interior

mansions.

13. In these third mansions the Lord never fails to repay our services, both

as a just and even as a merciful God, Who always bestows on us far more than

we deserve, giving us greater happiness than could be obtained from any

earthly pleasures and amusements. I think He grants few consolations here,

except, perhaps, occasionally to entice us to prepare ourselves to enter the

last mansions by showing us their contents. There may appear to you to be no

difference except in name between sensible devotion, and consolations and

you may ask why I distinguish them. I think there is a very great

difference, but I may be mistaken.

14. This will be best explained while writing of the fourth mansion, which

comes next, when I must speak of the consolations received there from our

Lord. The subject may appear futile, yet may prove useful by urging souls

who know what each mansion contains to strive to enter the best. It will

solace those whom God has advanced so far; others, who thought they had

reached the summit, will be abashed, yet if they are humble they will be led

to thank God.

15. Those who do not receive these consolations may feel a despondency that

is uncalled for, since perfection does not consist in consolation but in

greater love; our reward will be in proportion to this, and to the justice

and sincerity of our actions. Perhaps you wonder, then, why I treat of these

interior favours and their nature. I do not know; ask him who bade me write

this. I must obey Superiors, not argue with them, which I have no right to

do.

16. I assure you that when I had neither received these favours, [102] nor

understood them by experience, or ever expected to (and rightly so, for I

should have felt reassured if I had known or even conjectured that I was

pleasing to God in any way), yet when I read of the mercies and consolations

that our Lord grants to His servants, I was delighted and praised Him

fervently. If such as myself acted thus, how much more would the humble and

good glorify Him! I think it is worth while to explain these subjects and

show what consolations and delights we lose through our own fault, if only

for the sake of moving a single soul to praise God once.

17. When these joys are from God they come laden with love and strength,

which aid the soul on its way and increase its good works and virtues. Do

not imagine that it is unimportant whether you try to obtain these graces or

no; if you are not to blame, the Lord is just: what He refuses in one way,

His Majesty will give you in another, as He knows how; His secret ways are

very mysterious, and doubtless He will do what is best for you.

18. Souls who by God's mercy are brought so far (which, as I said, is no

small mercy, for they are likely to ascend still higher) will be greatly

benefited by practising prompt obedience. Even if they are not in the

religious state, it would be well if they, like certain other people, were

to take a director, [103] so as never to follow their own will, which is

the cause of most of our ills. They should not choose one of their own turn

of mind [104] (as the saying goes), who is over prudent in his actions,

but should select one thoroughly detached from worldly things; it is very

helpful to consult a person who has learnt and can teach this. It is

encouraging to see that trials which seemed to us impossible to submit to

are possible to others, and that they bear them sweetly. Their flight makes

us try to soar, like nestlings taught by the elder birds, who, though they

cannot fly far at first, little by little imitate their parents: I know the

great benefit of this. However determined such persons may be not to offend

our Lord, they must not expose themselves to temptation: they are still near

the first mansions to which they might easily return. Their strength is not

yet established on a solid foundation like that of souls exercised in

sufferings, who know how little cause there is to fear the tempests of this

world and care nothing for its pleasures: beginners might succumb before any

severe trial. Some great persecution, such as the devil knows how to raise

to injure us, might make beginners turn back; while zealously trying to

withdraw others from sin they might succumb to the attacks made upon them.

19. Let us look at our own faults, and not at other persons'. People who are

extremely correct themselves are often shocked at everything they see [105]

; however, we might often learn a great deal that is essential from the very

persons whom we censure. Our exterior comportment and manners may be

better--this is well enough, but not of the first importance. We ought not to

insist on every one following in our footsteps, nor to take upon ourselves

to give instructions in spirituality when, perhaps, we do not even know what

it is. Zeal for the good of souls, though given us by God, may often lead us

astray, sisters; it is best to keep our rule, which bids us ever to live in

silence and in hope. [106] Our Lord will care for the souls belonging to

Him; and if we beg His Majesty to do so, by His grace we shall be able to

aid them greatly. May He be for ever blessed!

_________________________________________________________________

[97] See letter concerning Francisco de Salcedo. Nov. 1576. Vol. II.

[98] Way of Perf. ch, xxxviii. 7.

[99] Way of Perf. ch, xxxviii, 10. Concep. ch. ii. 11, 12. Life, xi. 3.

[100] Way of Perf.. ch. viii. 12.

[101] St. Teresa very probably had in her mind her journey, to make a

foundation at Seville, when the boat, which was crossing the Guadalquivir,

narrowly escaped being carried down the river by the current. Found. ch.

xxiv, 6

[102] Life, ch. xii. 2. Rel. vii. 3.

[103] Life. ch. xiii. 29.

[104] Rel. vii. 18.

[105] Way of Perf. ch. vii. 6. Castle, M. I. ch. ii. 20, 21.

[106] Isa. . 15: 'In silentio et in spe erit fortitudo vestra.' Rule -º

13.

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________