Chapter 14 - The Life of Teresa of Jesus - Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila

   The Life of Holy Mother
        Teresa of Jesus

  The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel.

      Chapter 14

She begins to explain
- the second degree of prayer
   in which God already gives the soul
       special consolations,
   which she shows here to be supernatural.
   This is most noteworthy.

- The Second State of Prayer.
   Its Supernatural Character.
   ________________________

 Topics/Questions
    to keep in mind
   as we read along:

1). How does St. Teresa describe
        the "second degree of prayer" ?
          [ Life: Ch. 14 # 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,11 ]

2). How is the concept of the
           "Second Way of drawing water"
       similar to the
           "Second Degree of prayer"?
               [ Life: Ch. 14 # 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 ]

3). In the "second degree of prayer",
           the "Prayer of Quiet",
      how does St. Teresa describe
           the condition of the faculties?
              [ Life: Ch. 14 #3, 4, 5, 9, 10 ]

4). If a soul has been brought by God
          to the second degree of prayer,
      it may happen that the will,
         while occupied in God,
      may be hindered by the activity
          of the other two faculties,
      the Understanding and the Memory.

       What advice does St. Teresa provide
            for this soul ?
             [ Life: Ch. 14 #3, 4 ]

5). In paragraph #7, St. Teresa stated that
      for those whom God has brought
            into the 2nd degree of prayer,
     "His Majesty is so near to it...
       that He understands even the
             movements of its lips."

      Later, in paragraph #8, she emphasizes that
       for all souls, "God understands us always,
       and is present with us.
       It is so, and there can be no doubt of it"


       What, then, is the difference
       ( in proximity to God and understanding)
         for those whom God has brought
                into the 2nd degree of prayer
         compared to "all souls"?
            [ Life: Ch. 14 #7, 8, 9 ]

6). Why does St. Teresa say it is important
        to know about this Second Degree of prayer?
           [ Life: Ch. 14 #6, 7,8,9,10,11 ]

7). How does St. Teresa say that it can be known
       whether this state's prayer experiences
        which "begins to be supernatural"
         do "come from the Spirit of God" ?
           [ Life: Ch. 14 #5,7,11,13 ]

8). St. Teresa is writing at the request
        of her Confessor(s).
     How does she describe her ability to write
        amidst her prayer schedule
        and convent community duties?
          [ Life: Ch. 14 #12 ]

9). Speaking of the garden of the soul,
        what does St. Teresa say
      she did as a beginner in prayer
         and so, now advises others to do?
           [ Life: Ch. 14 #13, 14 ]

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    Chapter 14

1. Having spoken
          - of the toilsome efforts and
          - of the strength
      required for watering the garden
      when we have to draw the water
           out of the well,

let us now speak of the second manner
        of drawing the water,
which the Lord of the vineyard has ordained;

- of the machine of wheel and buckets
      whereby the gardener may
         -- draw more water
         -- with less labour, and
         -- be able to take some rest
              without being continually at work.

This, then, is what I am now going to describe;
and I apply it to the prayer called
      the prayer of quiet.
   
      [ The Prayer of Quiet ]
2. Herein the soul
      - begins to be recollected;

      - it is now touching on the
              supernatural

      - for it never could
         by any efforts of its own
              attain to this.

True, it seems at times
     to have been wearied
          at the wheel,
labouring with the understanding,
     and filling the buckets;

but in this second degree
       - the water is higher, and
       - accordingly the labour
            is much less than it was
         when the water had to be
            drawn up out of the well;

        I mean, that the water is
             nearer to it,
        for grace reveals itself
             more distinctly to the soul.

3. This is a gathering together
         of the faculties of the soul
             within itself,
      in order that it may have the
         fruition of that contentment
      in greater sweetness;

but the faculties
   - are not lost,
   - neither are they asleep:

- the will alone is occupied
      in such a way that,
   without knowing how
      it has become a captive,

   it gives a simple consent to become
      the prisoner of God;
   for it knows well what is to be
      the captive of Him it loves.

O my Jesus and my Lord,
   how pressing now is Thy love! [201]
It binds our love in bonds so straitly,
   that it is not in its power
                   at this moment
       to love anything else
                   but Thee.

4. The other two faculties
       -  help the will,
             that it may render itself
                 capable of the fruition
             of so great a good;

       nevertheless, it occasionally happens,
             even when the will is in union,
                  that they
      - hinder it very much:

     but then it (the Will)
           should never heed them at all,
      simply abiding in its fruition and quiet.
      [202]

For if it tried to make them recollected,
   it would miss its way
       together with them,

because they are at this time
   like doves
      - which are not satisfied
              with the food
         (that) the master of the dovecot
              gives them
         without any labouring for it
              on their part, and

     - which go forth in quest of it elsewhere,
         and so hardly find it
              that they come back.

And so the memory and
       the understanding
   - come and go,
   - seeking whether the will is going
          to give them that into the fruition
      of which it (the Will) has entered itself.

5. If it be our Lord's pleasure
         to throw them any food,
            they (Understanding and Memory) stop;
      if not, they go again to seek it.

They must be thinking that they are
     of some service to the will;

and now and then
     the memory or the imagination,
seeking to represent to it (the Will)
that of which it (the Will) has the fruition,
     does it harm.

The will, therefore, should be careful
   to deal with them as I shall explain.

Everything that takes place now in this state
   brings the very greatest consolation;
and the labour is so slight,
   that prayer, even if persevered in
        for some time,
   is never wearisome.


The reason is, that the understanding
   - is now working very gently, and
   - is drawing very much more water
 than it drew out of the well.

The tears, which God now sends,
   flow with joy;
though we feel them,
   they are not the result
     of any efforts of our own.

This water of grand blessings and graces,
     which our Lord now supplies,
makes the virtues thrive much more,
     beyond all comparison,
than they did in the previous state of prayer;

for the soul is already ascending
     out of its wretched state, and
some little knowledge of the blissfulness of glory
     is communicated to it.

This, I believe, is it that makes
   - the virtues grow the more, and
   - to draw nearer to essential virtue,
        God Himself,
      from Whom all virtues proceed;
        for His Majesty has begun
        -- to communicate Himself
                   to this soul, and
        -- will have it feel how
                 He is communicating Himself.

7. As soon as the soul has arrived thus far,
      - it begins to lose the desire
             of earthly things, [203]
      and no wonder; for
      - it sees clearly
          -- that, even for a moment,
                 this joy is not to be had on earth;
          -- that there are
                  no riches, no dominion,
                  no honours, no delights,
                  that can for one instant,
                          even for the twinkling of an eye,
                    minister such a joy;

for it (the prayer of quiet)
    is a true satisfaction, and
the soul sees that it really does satisfy.

Now, we who are on earth,
          as it seems to me,
   scarcely ever understand
       wherein our satisfaction lies,
   for it is always liable to disappointment;

but in this (prayer of quiet),
            at that time,
   there is none:

the disappointment cometh afterwards,
 - when the soul sees that all is over, and
 - that it has no power to recover it,
     neither does it know how;

   for if it cut itself in pieces
     by penance and prayer,
      and every other kind of austerities,
    all would be of little use,
        if our Lord did not grant it.

God, in His great mercy,
   will have the soul comprehend
    - that His Majesty is so near to it,
    - that it need not send messengers
           to Him,
    - but may speak to Him itself, and
           not with a loud crying,
because so near is He already,
    that He understands
even the movements of its lips.

8. It seems absurd to say this,
        seeing that we know that God
    - understands us always,
       and
    - is present with us.
    It is so, and there can be no doubt of it;

but our Emperor and Lord will
   have us now understand
       - that He understands us;
          and also 
   have us understand
       - what His presence bringeth about,
          and that
       - He means in a special way
             to begin a work in the soul,

            which is manifested
             --in the great joy,
                      inward and outward,
                 which He communicates,
                 and
             -- in the difference there is,
                       as I said just now,
                  between this joy and delight
                  and all the joys of earth;

   for He seems to be filling up
         the void in our souls
   occasioned by our sins.

9. This satisfaction
      - lies in the innermost part
            of the soul, and

      - the soul knows
              -- not whence,
              -- nor how,
           it came,

           very often it knows not
              -- what to do, or
              -- wish, or
              -- pray for.


       It seems to find all this at once,
           and knoweth not
              -- what it hath found;

       nor do I know how to explain it,
       because learning is necessary
            for many things.

Here, indeed, learning would be
     very much to the purpose,
  in order to explain the
    - general and
    - particular
helps of grace;

   for there are many who
      know nothing about them.

Learning would serve to show
    how our Lord
now will have the soul to see,
           as it were,
               with the naked eye,
           as men speak,
   this particular help of grace,

   and be also useful
      in many other ways
   wherein I am likely to go astray.

But as what I write
   is to be seen by those
who have the learning to discover
   whether I make mistakes or not,
I go on without anxiety;

for I know I need
    have none (no anxiety) whatever
about either the letter or the spirit,
because it is in their power
    to whom it is to be sent
to do with it as they will:
   they will understand it,
and blot out whatever may be amiss.

10. I should like them to explain this,
   because it is a principal point,
      and
   because a soul,
      when our Lord begins
          to bestow these graces upon it,
           - does not understand them,
               and
           - does not know what to do
                    with itself;

           for if God leads it
              by the way of fear,
           as He led me,
              its trial will be heavy,
              - if there be no one
                 who understands the state
                          it is in;

 and to see itself as in a picture
     is a great comfort;
and then it sees clearly that
     it is travelling on that road.

The knowledge of
    what it has to do
is a great blessing for it,
    so that it may advance forwards
in every one of these degrees of prayer;

   for I  have
       - suffered greatly, and
       - lost much time,
   because I did not know what to do;
   and I am very sorry for those souls
     who find themselves alone
   when they come to this state;


  for though I read many spiritual books,
    wherein this very matter is discussed,
  they threw very little light upon it.
  And if it be not
      a soul much exercised in prayer,
   it will find it enough
      to understand its state,
   be the books ever so clear.

11. I wish much that our Lord
would help me to describe
- the effects on the soul
         of these things,
   now that they begin
         to be supernatural,

    so that men might
      know by these effects
    whether they come
        from the Spirit of God.

I mean, 'known'
     as things are known here below
though it is always well
   to live
      - in fear, and
      - on our guard;
for even if they do come from God,
   now and then
the devil will be able to transform himself
   into an angel of light; [204]

and the soul,
   if not experienced herein,
will not understand the matter; and

it must have so much experience
   for the understanding thereof,
that it is necessary
    it should have attained
to the highest perfection of prayer.


12. The little time I have
    helps me but little, and
it is therefore necessary His Majesty
    should undertake it
       (this writing) Himself;

   for I have to live in community, and
     have very many things to employ me,
   as I am in a house which is newly founded
       as will appear hereafter; [205]
   and so I am writing,
       with very many interruptions,
   by little and little at a time.

I wish I had leisure;
  for when our Lord gives the spirit,
 it is more easily and better done;

it is then as with a person
    working embroidery
       with the pattern before her;

but if the spirit be wanting,
   there is no more meaning in the words
than in gibberish,
         so to speak,
though many years may have
    been spent in prayer.

And thus I think
   it a very great advantage
to be in this state of prayer
   when I am writing this;

for I see clearly that
  - it is not I who speak,
  - nor is it I who with her understanding
         has arranged it;
and afterwards
   I do not know how
       I came to speak so accurately. [206]

It has often happened to me thus.

13. Let us now return to our orchard,
          or flower-garden, and behold now
  - how the trees begin to fill with sap
       for the bringing forth
        -- of the blossoms,
             and then
        -- of the fruit, the flowers and
                 the plants, also, their fragrance.

This illustration pleases me;
    for very often,
when I was beginning
   and our Lord grant that I have
really begun to serve His Majesty,

I mean, 'begun' in relation to
    what I have to say of my life,

   it was to me a great joy
   - to consider
      -- my soul as a garden, and
      -- our Lord as walking in it.

   - I used to beseech Him to
      -- increase the fragrance
           of the little flowers of virtues
          which were beginning, as it seemed,
               to bud and
      -- preserve them,
               that they might be to His glory;
          for I desired nothing for myself.

   - I prayed Him to cut those
        (as) He liked,
      because I already knew that
         they would grow the better.


14. I say 'cut'; (prune)
 for there are times in which
   the soul has no recollection of this garden:
   - everything seems parched, and
   - there is no water to be had
       for preserving it
      and in which
   - it seems as if the soul had never possessed
        any virtue at all.

This is the season of heavy trials;
  for our Lord will have
         the poor gardener suppose
  - all the trouble he took
        in maintaining and watering the garden
     to have been taken to no purpose.

 - Then is the time really for
        weeding and rooting out every plant,
    however small it may be,
      that is worthless,
    in the knowledge that
       no efforts of ours are sufficient,
    if God withholds from us
       the waters of His grace;
    and

  - in despising ourselves
        as being nothing,
     and even less than nothing.

     In this way we gain great humility
        and the flowers grow afresh.

15. O my Lord and my Good!
I cannot utter these words without
        tears, and
        rejoicing in my soul;
   for Thou wilt be thus with us,
   and art with us, in the Sacrament.

   We may believe so most truly;
        for so it is, and
    the comparison I make
         is a great truth;

and, if our sins stand not in the way,
    we may rejoice in Thee,
because Thou rejoicest in us;

for Thou hast told us that
   Thy delight is to be
      with the children of men. [207]

     O my Lord, what does it mean?
     Whenever I hear these words,
         they always give me great consolation,
     and did so even when I was most wicked.

16. Is it possible, Lord, that there
   -can be a soul which,
        after attaining to this state
             wherein Thou bestowest upon it
                    the like graces and consolations,
                    and
             wherein it understands that
                   Thou delightest to be with it,
   - can yet fall back and offend Thee
          after so many favours, and
                    such great demonstrations
                        of the love Thou bearest it, and
                        of which there cannot be any doubt,
                    because the effect of it is so visible?


  Such a soul there certainly is;
      for I have done so,
   not once, but often.


May it please Thy goodness, O Lord,
   that I may be alone in my ingratitude,
the only one
   - who has committed
         so great an iniquity, and
   - whose ingratitude has been so immeasurable!

But even out of my ingratitude
    Thine infinite goodness has
        brought forth some good;
    and
        the greater my wickedness,
        the greater the splendour
           of the great mercy of Thy compassions.

Oh, what reasons have I to magnify them for ever!

17. May it be so,
    I beseech Thee, O my God, and
        may I sing of them for ever,
    now that Thou hast been pleased
    to show
     - mercies so great unto me
         that they who see them are astonished,
     - mercies which draw me
            out of myself continually,
     that I may praise Thee more and more!

for, remaining in myself,
    without Thee, I could do nothing,

O my Lord,
    but be as the withered flowers of the garden;
so that this miserable earth of mine
    becomes a heap of refuse,
as it was before.

Let it not be so, O Lord!
Let not a soul
          which Thou hast purchased
                with so many labours
    be lost,
           one which Thou hast so often
                  ransomed anew, and
                  delivered from between the teeth
                      of the hideous dragon!

18. You, my father, must forgive me
   for wandering from the subject;

and, as I am speaking to the purpose
     I have in view,
   you must not be surprised.

What I write is
    what my soul has understood;
and it is very often hard enough
    to abstain from the praises of God
when, in the course of writing,
    the great debt I owe Him
           presents itself before me.

Nor do I think
   that it can be disagreeable to you;
because both of us, I believe,
    may sing the same song,
        though in a different way;

for my debt is much the greater,
    seeing that God has forgiven me more,
as you, my father, know.
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[201] 2 Cor. v. 14:
          "Charitas enim Christi urget nos."

[202] See [188]  ch. xvii.  § 12;
           Way of Perfection, ch. liii.,
            but [189]xxxi. of the old editions.

[203] See [190]Relation, i. § 12.

[204] 2 Cor. xi. 14:
            "Ipse enim Satanas transfigurat se
              in angelum lucis."

[205] See [191]ch. x. § 11.
           As that passage refers probably to
                 the monastery of the Incarnation,
           this must refer to that of St. Joseph,
                  newly founded in Avila;
           for that of the Incarnation was founded
                  a short time before the Saint was born;
           and she could hardly say of it, now that she
           was at least in her forty-seventh year,
           that it was newly founded.

           The house, however, was poor;
             for she says, [192]ch. xxxii. § 12, that the nuns
            occasionally quitted the monastery for a time,
            because of its poverty.

[206] See [193]ch. xviii.  10.
           In the second Report of the Rota, p. 477
           quoted by Benedict XIV., De Canoniz. iii. 26, n. 12,
           and by the Bollandists in the Acta, 1315-
           we have these words, and they throw great light
           on the text:

             "Sunt et alli testes de visu affirmantes
              quod quando beata  Teresa scribebat libros,
               facies ejus resplendebat."
      
              In the information taken in Granada,
              the Mother Anne of the Incarnation says
              she saw the Saint one night, while writing
              the Fortress of the Soul, with her face shining;
              and Mary of St. Francis deposes to the same
              effect in the informations taken in Medina
                (De la Fuente, vol. ii. pp. 389, 392).

[207] Prov. viii. 31: "
           Delicia mea esse cum filiis hominum."
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