Chapter 15 - Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila - The Life of Teresa of Jesus

The Life of Holy Mother
     Teresa of Jesus

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

Chapter 15
- Continuing the same subject,
- She gives certain advice
     how one should behave in the prayer of quiet.
   She shows that many souls advance so far,
     but that few go beyond.
- The matters treated of in this chapter are very necessary and profitable.

- Instructions for Those Who Have
     Attained to the Prayer of Quiet.
   Many Advance So Far, But Few Go Farther.

______________________
  Topics to keep in mind
     as we read along:
 
1a). St. Teresa continues from Chapter 14
         to describe further
       the "second degree of prayer".
       How does St. Teresa further describe
          the "second degree of prayer" ?
            [ Life: Ch. 14 #1, 2 ]
            [ Life: Ch. 15 #1, 6, 7, 23 ]

1b). Is the soul able to obtain or retain the
         'Prayer of Quiet' by its own efforts?
           [ Life: Ch. 15 #1, 6, 15 ]

1c). Are there many souls brought
        into the Second degree of Prayer
         by God?
           [ Life: Ch. 15 #2, 7 ]

      Are there many souls who
        advanced by God beyond
      the Second Degree of Prayer?
          [ Life: Ch. 15 # 2, 7 ]

      Why don't more souls advance
       beyond the Second Degree of Prayer ?
           [ Life: Ch. 15 #11, 6, 7, 4, 2 ]

2). In the "second degree of prayer",
       while the "Prayer of Quiet" lasts,
     What is the condition of the faculties?
       (The Will, Understanding / Intellect,
            and Memory)
              [ Life: Ch. 14 # 3 ];
                        Ch. 15 # 2, 9, 14 ]

3). Why does St. Teresa say it is important
      to know about this Second Degree of prayer?
         [ Life: Ch. 14 # 6, 7,8 ]
                   Ch. 15 # 6, 7, 4, 23, 10, 22 ]

4). What advise does St. Teresa give
        to those whom God has brought
      to the Second Degree of Prayer?
       [ Life: Ch. 15 # 4,7,6,23,5,21,14,22,20,
                               13,17,18,19,9,12,10,11 ]

5). If a person is brought into the
       Second degree of prayer, should they
      never perform mental prayer
        or "vocal prayer" again ?
           [ Life: Ch. 15 #14 ]


6). If a quiet state is experienced by a soul,
       from where can it arise?
          [ Life: Ch. 15 # 15, 21, 22 ]

     How can the soul know the source ?
        [ Life: Ch. 15 #21, 22, 15 ]

     If it is actually a deceit of the devil,
        will the soul be harmed?
           [ Life: Ch. 15 #16 ]


_____________________
1. Let us now go back to the subject.
This quiet and recollection of the soul
   makes itself in great measure felt
 in the satisfaction and peace,
   attended with very great joy and repose
       of the faculties,
 and most sweet delight,
    wherein the soul is established. [1]

It thinks, because it has not gone beyond it,
  that there is nothing further to wish for,
but that its abode might be there,
  and it would willingly say so with St. Peter. [2]

It dares not move nor stir,
   because it thinks that this blessing
it has received
   must then escape out of its hands;
now and then, it could wish it did not even breathe. [3]

The poor little soul is not aware that,
  as of itself, it could do nothing
to draw down this blessing on itself,
  it is still less able to retain it a moment longer
than our Lord wills it should remain.

2. I have already said that,
  in the prior recollection and quiet, [4]
    there is no failure of the powers of the soul;
but the soul is so satisfied in God
    that, although two of its powers be distracted,
     ( Understanding/Intellect and Memory/Imagination)
yet, while the recollection lasts,
     as the will abides in union with God, 
so its peace and quiet are not disturbed;

on the contrary, the will by degrees
 brings the understanding and the memory back again;

for though the will is not yet altogether absorbed,
   it continues still occupied without knowing how,
so that, notwithstanding all the efforts
   of the memory and the understanding,
they cannot rob it of its delight and joy [5]--
 yea, rather, it helps without any labour at all
to keep this little spark of the love of God
  from being quenched.

3. Oh, that His Majesty would be gracious unto me,
and enable me to give a clear account of the matter;

for many are the souls who attain to this state,
   and few are they who go farther:

   and I know not who is in fault;
        most certainly it is not God;
for when His Majesty shows mercy unto a soul,
   so that it advances so far,
I believe that He will not fail to be more merciful still,
   if there be no shortcomings on our part.

4. And it is of great importance for the soul
that has advanced so far as this
    to understand
      - the great dignity of its state,
      - the great grace given it by our Lord, and
      - how in all reason it should not belong to earth;
         because He, of His goodness, seems to make it here
            a denizen of heaven, unless it be itself in fault.

      - And miserable will that soul be if it turns back;
         it will go down, I think so, even to the abyss,
            as I was going myself,
            if the mercy of our Lord had not brought me back;
         because, for the most part,
            it must be the effect of grave faults--
         that is my opinion:
            nor is it possible to forsake so great a good
               otherwise than through the blindness
            occasioned by much evil.

5. Therefore, for the love of our Lord,
I implore those souls to whom His Majesty
     has given so great a grace--
           the attainment of this state-
  - to know and make much of themselves,
        with a humble and holy presumption,
     in order that they may never return
         to the flesh-pots of Egypt.

  And if through
       - weakness and wickedness, and a
       - mean and wretched nature,
    they should fall, as I did,
         -- let them always keep in mind
               the good they have lost;
         -- them suspect and fear--they have reason to do so--
               that, if they do not resume their prayer,
             they may go on from bad to worse.

             I call that a real fall which makes us hate
                the way by which so great a good was obtained.

   I address myself to those souls;
        but I am not saying that
             they will never offend God,
                          nor fall into sin,--

        though there are good reasons
             why those who have received these graces
        should keep themselves carefully from sin;

             but we are miserable creatures.

What I earnestly advise is this:
  - let there be no giving up of prayer;

       it is by prayer they will
          -- understand what they are doing, and
          -- obtain from our Lord the grace to repent,
              and strength to rise again;

 - they must believe and believe again that,
      if they cease from praying,
            they run--so I think--into danger.

   I know not if I understand what I am saying;
     for, as I said before, I measure others by myself. [6]

6. The prayer of quiet, then,
   - is a little spark of the true love of Himself,
   - which our Lord begins to enkindle in the soul;

   - and His will is,
         that the soul should understand
              what this love is
         by the joy it brings.

This quiet and recollection and little spark,
   if it is the work of the Spirit of God,
          and not a sweetness supplied by Satan,
          or brought about by ourselves,
     produces great results.

A person of experience, however,
  cannot possibly fail to understand at once
that it is not a thing that can be acquired,
  were it not that our nature is so greedy of sweetness,
      that it seeks for it in every way.

  But it becomes cold very soon;
      for, however much we try to make the fire burn,
  in order to obtain this sweetness,
     it does not appear that we do anything else
  but throw water on it, to put it out.

This spark, then, given of God,
   however slight it may be,
causes a great crackling;

and if men do not quench it by their faults,
   it is the beginning of the great fire,
which sends forth--
   I shall speak of it in the proper place [7]--
the flames of that most vehement love of God
  which His Majesty will have perfect souls to possess.

7. This little spark is a sign or pledge
         which God gives to a soul,
in token of His having chosen it for great things,
         if it will prepare to receive them.

It is a great gift,
   much too great for me to be able to speak of it.

It is a great sorrow to me;
   because, as I said before, [8]
I know that many souls come thus far,

   and that those who go farther,
as they ought to go,
   are so few,
that I am ashamed to say it.

I do not mean that they are absolutely few:
   there must be many,
because God is patient with us, for some reasons;
   I speak of what I have seen.

8. I should like much to recommend these souls
  - to take care that they do not hide their talent;

     for it may be that God has chosen them
        to be the edification of many others,

     especially in these days,
     when the friends of God should be strong,
        in order that they may support the weak.

    Those who discern in themselves this grace,
       must look upon themselves as such friends,
    if they would fulfil the law
       which even the honourable friendship
    of the world respects;

    if not, as I said just now, [9] let them fear and tremble,
       lest they should be doing mischief to themselves--
    and God grant it be to themselves only!

9. What the soul has to do at those seasons
       wherein it is raised to the prayer of quiet
     - is nothing more than
           to be gentle and without noise.

          By noise, I mean
          - going about with the understanding
               in search of words and reflections
             whereby to give God thanks for this grace, and
          - heaping up its sins and imperfections together
               to show that it does not deserve it.

             All this commotion takes place now,
                and the understanding comes forward,
                and the memory is restless,
                and certainly to me these powers
                    bring much weariness at times;
                for, though my memory is not strong,
                    I cannot control it.

   - Let the will quietly and wisely understand
       that it is not by dint of labour on our part
          that we can converse to any good purpose
                 with God, and
       that our own efforts are only great logs of wood,
          laid on without discretion
                 to quench this little spark; and

   - let it confess this, and in humility say,
          O Lord, what can I do here?
        what has the servant to do with her Lord,
                and earth with heaven?
        or words of love that suggest themselves now,
          firmly grounded in the conviction
                that what it says is truth; and
   - let it make no account of the understanding,
        which is simply tiresome.

10. And if the will wishes to communicate
            to the understanding any portion
                of that the fruition
            of which itself has entered on,
        or if it labours
            to make the understanding recollected,
                it shall not succeed;

        for it will often happen
            that the will is in union and at rest,
       while the understanding is in extreme disorder.

  - It is better for it to leave it alone,
          and not to run after it--
    I am speaking of the will;

  - for the will should abide in the fruition of that grace,
        recollected itself, like the prudent bee;
     for if no bees entered the hive,
        and each of them wandered abroad
            in search of the rest,
     the honey would hardly be made.

     In the same way, the soul will lose much
          if it be not careful now,
       especially if the understanding be acute;
     for when it begins to make reflections
         and search for reasons,
       it will think at once that it is doing something
           if its reasons and reflections are good.

11. The only reason that ought to be admitted now is
   - to understand clearly that
          there is no reason whatever,
              except His mere goodness,
          why God should grant us so great a grace, and

  - to be aware that we are so near Him, and
  - to pray to His Majesty for mercies,
  - to make intercession
         for the Church,
         for those who had been recommended to us, and
         for the souls in purgatory,
    
     -- not, however, with noise of words,
         but with a heartfelt desire to be heard.

      This is a prayer that contains much, and
          by it more is obtained
       than by many reflections of the understanding.

  - Let the will stir up some of those reasons,
      which proceed from reason itself,
        -- to quicken its love,
            such as the fact of its being in a better state, and
  - let it make certain acts of love,
      as what it will do for Him to whom it owes so much,--
        and that, as I said just now,
            without any noise of the understanding,
        in the search after profound reflections.

        A little straw,--and it will be less than straw,
           if we bring it ourselves,--
           laid on with humility, will be more effectual here,
        and will help to kindle a fire
           more than many fagots of most learned reasons,
        which, in my opinion, will put it out in a moment.

12. This is good for those learned men
           who have commanded me to write, [10] and
           who all, by the goodness of God,
                have come to this state;
           for it may be that they spend the time
                in making applications of passages
           of the Scriptures.

And though learning could not fail
        to be of great use to them,
    both before and after prayer,
still, in the very time of prayer itself,
    there is little necessity for it,
        in my opinion,
unless it be for the purpose
    of making the will tepid;
for the understanding then,
    because of its nearness to the light,
        is itself illuminated;
so that even I, who am what I am,
    seem to be a different person.

 ______________________________
[The above passage is unclear.
  The phrase "making the will tepid"
    can be thought either to cool down
     or to warm up the will depending
     on the original state of the will.
    It has been translated to mean
    that acting upon one's learning
    and making the Understanding active
    (discursive reasoning) during prayer
     can "quench this little spark" of love
      and peace that the Will enjoys in the
      Prayer of Quiet.
    Elsewhere, it may be thought to mean
     that rarely, the intellect may be so
      illuminated that it can warm up the Will.

    In any case,  St. Teresa seems to say that
      learning is helpful before and after prayer
    but during prayer - this is generally the time to
      to quietly repose in God's presence.

        See Paragraph #13
            "So, then, when the soul is in the prayer of quiet,
                - let it repose in its rest--
                - let learning be put on one side".  ]

[ Another translation:
   "but, although they will have no difficulty
    in making good use of their learning

  both before and after prayer,
  they will have little need for it,
      in my view,
  during their actual periods of prayer,
      when it will only make their will lukewarm;
  for at those times the understanding,
    through being so near the light,
  sees with the greatest clearness,
  so that even I, though the sort of person I am,
    seem to be quite different".
    - The Life of Holy Mother,Teresa of Jesus
       translated by E.A.Peers- Life: Ch. 15 #7 ]

   [ "aquí en estos ratos de oración
          poca necesidad hay de ellas,
       a mi parecer, si no es para entibiar la voluntad"
     ( here in periods of prayer, there is little need for
       this (learning/intellectualizing), in my opinion
          if not for to warm the will)    ]
    ________________________________________
         Returning  to #12
And so it is;
   for it has happened to me,
     who scarcely understand a word
           of what I read in Latin,
               and specially in the Psalms,
           in the prayer of quiet,
               not only to understand the Latin
                     as if it were Spanish,
           but, still more,
      to take a delight in dwelling
          on the meaning of that I knew through the Spanish.

     We must make an exception:
          if these learned men have to preach
                or to teach,
          they will do well
                to take advantage of their learning,
      that they may help poor people of little learning,
          of whom I am one.

      Charity is a great thing;
          and so always is ministering unto souls,
       when done simply for God.

13. So, then, when the soul is in the prayer of quiet,
    - let it repose in its rest--
    - let learning be put on one side.

   The time will come when they may make use of it
       in the service of our Lord--
   when they that possess it will appreciate it so highly
       as to be glad that they had not neglected it
   even for all the treasures of the world,
       simply because it enables them to serve His Majesty;
   for it is a great help.

   But in the eyes of Infinite Wisdom, believe me,
      a little striving after humility, and a single act thereof,
   are worth more than all the science in the world.

   This is not the time for discussing,
      but for understanding plainly what we are,
   and presenting ourselves
            in simplicity before God,
      who will have the soul make itself as a fool--
            as, indeed, it is-- in His presence,
      seeing that His Majesty so humbles Himself
            as to suffer it to be near Him,
      we being what we are.

14. Moreover, the understanding bestirs itself
           to make its thanksgiving in phrases well arranged;
        but the will, in peace,
           not daring to lift up its eyes with the publican, [11]
                 makes perhaps a better act of thanksgiving
        than the understanding,
                 with all the tropes of its rhetoric.

In a word, mental prayer
        is not to be abandoned altogether now,
    nor even vocal prayer,
if at any time we wish, or can,
    to make use of either of them;

   for if the state of quiet be profound,
        it becomes difficult to speak, and
        it can be done only with great pain.

15. I believe myself that we know whether this proceeds
    - from the Spirit of God,
    - or is brought about by endeavours of our own,
         in the commencement of devotion which God gives;
         and we seek of ourselves, as I said before, [12]
               to pass onwards to this quiet of the will.

         Then, no effect whatever is produced;
              it is quickly over, and aridity is the result.

   - If it comes from Satan,
         the practised soul, in my opinion,
           will detect it, because
           -- it leaves
                   trouble behind, and
                   scant humility and
                   poor dispositions for those effects
                which are wrought if it comes from God;
           -- it leaves neither light in the understanding
                          nor steadiness in the truth. [13]

16. Here Satan can do little or no harm,
         - if the soul directs unto God
             the joy and sweetness it then feels; and
         - if it fixes the thoughts and desires on Him,
              according to the advice already given,
         the devil can gain nothing whatever--
            on the contrary, by the permission of God,
               he will lose much by that very joy
                     which he causes in the soul,

               because that joy will help the soul,
                     inasmuch as it thinks
                        the joy comes from God,
                  to betake itself often to prayer
                        in its desire for it.

        And if the soul is
               - humble,
               - indifferent to, and
               - detached from,
           all joy, however spiritual,
        and if it loves the cross,
             it will make no account of the sweetness
                 which Satan sends.

       But it cannot so deal with that
          which comes from the Spirit of God;
       of that it will make much.

       Now, when Satan sends it,
             as he is nothing but a lie,
       and when he sees that the soul humbles itself
             through that joy and sweetness--

       and here, in all things relating
                    to prayer and sweetness,
             we must be very careful to endeavour
                    to make ourselves humble,--
             Satan will not often repeat his work,
                    when he sees that he loses by it.

17. For this and for many other reasons,
   when I was speaking of the first degree of prayer,
   and of the first method of drawing the water, [14]
       I insisted upon it that the great affair of souls is,
            when they begin to pray,
               - to begin also to detach themselves
                       from every kind of joy, and
               - to enter on it resolved only on helping
                       to carry the cross of Christ
                            like good soldiers,
                       willing to serve their King
                            without present pay,
                  because they are sure of it at last,
                     having their eyes directed
                        to the true and everlasting kingdom
                  at the conquest of which we are aiming.

18. It is a very great matter
      to have this always before our eyes,
          especially in the beginning;
  
  afterwards, it becomes so clear,
    that it is rather a matter of necessity to forget it,
           in order to live on.

Now, labouring to keep in mind
    - that all things here below are of short duration,
    - that they are all nothing,
    - that the rest we have here
          is to be accounted as none,--

   all this, I say, seems to be exceedingly low;
        and so, indeed, it is,--
    because those who have gone on to greater perfection
        would look upon it as a reproach,
         and be ashamed of themselves,
    if they thought that they were giving up
              the goods of this world
         because they are perishable,
      or that they would not be glad
              to give them up for God--
         even if they were to last for ever.

The greater the perfection of these persons,
        the greater their joy, and
the greater also would that joy be
         if the duration of these worldly goods were greater.

19. In these persons, thus far advanced,
           - love is already grown, and
           - love is that which does this work.

But as to beginners,
     to them it is of the utmost importance,
     and they must not regard this consideration
        as unbecoming,
     for the blessings to be gained are great,--

     and that is why I recommend it so much to them;
            for they will have need of it--
even those who have attained to great heights of prayer--
     at certain times,
            when God will try them, and
            when His Majesty seems to have forsaken them.

20. I have said as much already,
and I would not have it forgotten, [15]
     in this our life on earth,
        the growth of the soul is not like that of the body.

We, however, so speak of it--and, in truth, it does grow.
A youth that is grown up, whose body is formed,
     and who is become a man,
          does not ungrow,
          nor does his body lessen in size;

but as to the soul,
     it so is by our Lord's will,
          so far as I have seen it in my own experience,--
    but I know nothing of it in any other way.

    It must be in order
         - to humble us for our greater good, and
         - to keep us from being careless during our exile;

     seeing that he who has ascended the higher
          has the more reason
              - to be afraid, and
              - to be less confident in himself.

     A time may come when they
         whose will is so wrapt up in the will of God--and
         who, rather than fall into a single imperfection,
                  would undergo torture
                  and suffer a thousand deaths--
         will find it necessary,
                  if they would be delivered from offending God,
                  and from the commission of sin,
             - to make use of the first armour of prayer,
             - to call to mind
                  -- how everything is coming to an end,
                  -- that there is a heaven and a hell, and
             - to make use of other reflections of that nature,
                 when they find themselves assailed
                      by temptations and persecutions.

21. Let us go back to what I was saying.

The great source of our deliverance
          from the cunning devices and the sweetness
                  which Satan sends
   - is to begin with a resolution
        to walk in the way of the Cross
             from the very first, and
   - not to desire any sweetness at all,
        seeing that our Lord Himself has pointed out to us
             the way of perfection,
        saying, "Take up thy cross and follow Me." [16]

   He is our example;
   and whosoever follows His counsels only to please Him
          has nothing to fear.

   In the improvement which they detect in themselves,
         they who do so will see that
                - this is no work of Satan and
   if they fall,
         they have a sign of the presence of our Lord
                 in their rising again at once.

         They have other signs, also,
                 of which I am going to speak.

22. When it is the work of the Spirit of God,
      there is no necessity
                     for going about searching for reasons,
           on the strength of which we may elicit
                     acts of humility and of shame,

       because our Lord Himself supplies them
            in a way very different from that
       by which we could acquire them
                     by our own poor reflections,
            which are as nothing in comparison
       with that real humility arising out of the light
             which our Lord here gives us, and
             which begets a confusion of face that undoes us.

      The knowledge with which God supplies us,
          in order that we may know
       that of ourselves we have no good in us,
           is perfectly apprehended--

       and the more perfectly,
           the greater the graces.

        It fills us with a great desire
           of advancing in prayer, and
           of never giving it up, whatever troubles may arise.

        The soul offers to suffer everything.

         A certain security,
            joined with humility and fear
                concerning our salvation,
         casts out servile fear at once from the soul,
         and in its place plants a loyal fear [17]
                of more perfect growth. [18]

        There is a visible beginning of a love of God,
             utterly divested of all self-interest,
         together with a longing
             after seasons of solitude,
         in order to obtain a greater fruition of this good.

23. In short, not to weary myself,
    it is the beginning of all good;

    the flowers have so thriven,
         that they are on the point of budding.

And this the soul sees most clearly,
   and it is impossible to persuade it now
         that God was not with it,
         till it turns back upon itself,
   and beholds its own failings and imperfections.

Then it fears for everything;
        and it is well it should do so--
though there are souls whom the certain conviction
        that God is with them
    benefits more than all the fear they may ever have.

If a soul love greatly, and is thankful naturally,
    the remembrance of the mercies of God
makes it turn to Him more effectually
    than all the chastisements of hell
         it can ever picture to itself--
         at least, it was so with me,
                 though I am so wicked.

24. As I shall speak at greater length
           of the signs of a good spirit [19]--
it has cost me much labour to be clear about them--
     I do not treat of them here.

I believe, too, that, with the help of God,
    I shall be able to speak somewhat to the point,
because--setting aside the experience I have had,
    and by which I learned much--
I have had the help of some most learned men
     and persons of great holiness,
whom we may reasonably believe in the matter.

Souls, therefore, are not to weary themselves
    so much as I did,
when, by the goodness of our Lord,
    they may have come to this state.

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1. See Way of Perfection, ch. liii.,
      but ch. xxxii of the old edition.

2. St. Matt. xvii. 4: "Bonum est nos hic esse."

3. See ch. xvii. § 6.

4. Ch. x. § 1.

5. Ch. xiv. §§ 3, 4.

6. Ch. x. § 9.

7. Ch. xviii. § 4, and ch. xxi. § 9.

8. § 3.

9. § 5.

10. Ch. x. § 1.

11. St. Luke xviii. 13:
     "Nolebat nec oculos ad coelum levare."

12. Ch. xii. § 5.

13. "Firmeza en la verdad."
        Francisco de St. Thoma, in his Medulla Mystica, p. 204,
           quoting this passage, has, "firmeza en la voluntad."
         Philip a SS. Trinitate, Theolog. Mystic. p. 354,
              and his Abbreviator, Anton. a Sp. Sancto,
    Direct. Mystic. tr. iv. disp. i. § 11, n. 94,
       seem also to have preferred "voluntad" to "verdad;"
    for the words they use are,
       "nec intellectui lux nec voluntati firmitas;" and,
       "defectus lucis in intellectu,
        et firmitatis in voluntate."

14. Ch. xi. § 16.

15. Ch. xiii. § 23.

16. St. Matt. xvi. 24:
         "Tollat crucem suam et sequatur Me."

17. "Fiel temor." In the previous editions it was filial.

18. Ch. xi. § 1.

19. See ch. xxv.

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