The Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 1
Here beginneth
the Foundation of S. Joseph
of the Carmel of Medina del Campo
CHAPTER I
OF THE MEANS
WHICH LED TO THE PLANNING
OF THIS
AND THE OTHER FOUNDATIONS
1. Praise of the Monastery
of S. Joseph, Avila. —
2. Obedience of the nuns. —
3. Faith of one of the nuns. —
4. The love of solitude. —
5. The Saint's longing. —
6. Fray A. Maldonado. —
7. A Divine locution. _
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1. Praise of the Monastery
of S. Joseph, Avila. —
1. I remained fivc years after its foundation
in the house of S. Joseph, Avila,
and I believe,
so far as I can see at present,
that they were the most tranquil years
of my life,
the calm and rest
of which my soul very often greatly misses.
During that time certain young persons
entered it as religious,
whose years were not many,
but whom the world,
as it seemed,
had already made its own,
if we might judge of them
by their outward manners and dress.
Our Lord very quickly
- set them free from their vanities,
- drew them into His own house, and
- endowed them with a perfection so great
as to make me very much ashamed
of myself.
We were thirteen in number,
which is the number
we had resolved never to exceed
I took my delight in souls
so pure and holy,
whose only anxiety was
to praise and serve our Lord.
His Majesty sent us everything
we had need of
without our asking for it ;
and whenever we were in want,
which was very rarely,
their joy was then the greater.
I used to praise our Lord
at the sight of virtues so high,
especially for
the disregard of everything
the disregard of everything
but His service.
2. Obedience of the nuns. —
2. I, who was prioress there,
do not remember
that I ever had any thoughts
about our necessities,
for I was persuaded
that our Lord would never fail those
who had
no other care
no other care
but that of pleasing Him.
And if now and then
there was not sufficient food
for us all,
on my saying
that what we had
was for those who wanted it most,
not one of them would think
that she was in need;
and so it remained
till God sent enough for all.
As for the virtue of obedience,
for which I have a very great attraction —
though I knew not
how to observe it
till these servants of God taught me,
so that I could not be ignorant of it
if there had been any goodness in me —
I could tell much that I saw in them.
One thing I remember,
which is this:
once in the refectory
we had cucumbers given
to us for our portions,
and
to me a very small one, rotten within.
Pretending not to be aware of this,
I called a sister,*
one of the most able and sensible
in the house,
and, to try her obedience,
told her to go and plant it
in a little garden we had.
She asked me
whether it was to be planted
endways or sideways.
I told her sideways.
She went and planted it,
without thinking
that it could not possibly fail to die.
The fact
that she was acting under obedience
made her natural reason blind,
so that she believed
that what she did was perfectly right.
I happened also
to charge another with six or seven offices
inconsistent with each other,
all of which she accepted
without saying a word,
thinking it possible
for her to discharge them.
* See
"Life" ch. xxxii. 16,
especially the note, and
ch. xxxvi. 31 ;
"Way of Perfection" ch.11. 7.
"Life" ch. xxxix. 14
.
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* Maria Bautista,
- in the world, Maria de Ocampo,
the niece of the Saint,
- who was with her in the Monastery
of the Incarnation, and
- who offered a thousand ducats
for the foundation of a house wherein
greater strictness might be observed
["Life" ch. xxxii. 13; ch. xxxvi. 25 ].
She was now a novice in S. Joseph's,
and was afterwards prioress of Valladolid
[Reforma, bk. i. ch. xxxv. 6, and ch. L11. 9.]
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3. Faith of one of the nuns. —
3. We had a well,
- the water in which was very bad
according to their account who tested it,
- out of which,
because it was very deep,
it seemed impossible
to make the water flow.
I sent for workmen to make a trial,
who laughed at me
because I was going to throw money away.
I said to my sisters,
' What think you of it' ?
One of them answered, *
'Let us try.
Our Lord must find some one to
- supply us with water and
- give us wherewithal to support him;
now, it will cost His Majesty less
to find water for us in the house,
and
He will therefore not fail to do it.'
* Maria Bautista,
mentioned in the preceding note.
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Considering the great faith and resolution
with which she said this,
I
I
- took it for granted
it would be so,
and
- had the work done,
against the will of the well-sinker,
who had experience of water.
Our Lord was pleased,
and we have a flow of water
quite enough for us,
and
good to drink, to this day.
I do not count this as a miracle —
The miraculous water flowed
for eight years,
and
then, almost ceased
when the city of Avila
supplied the monastery
with water from another source,
[ Reforma, bk. i. ch. L111.1].
I could tell many other things —
but I tell it
▪ to show the faith of the sisters,
for the facts occurred
as I am describing them, and
▪ because my chief purpose
is not to praise the nuns
of these monasteries,
all of whom,
by the goodness of our Lord,
walk in the same path.
It would be tedious to write
of these and many other things,
yet not unprofitable,
for those who come in from time to time
are hereby encouraged
to follow in their steps.
However, if our Lord will have it done,
the superiors might order the prioresses
to put them in writing.
4. The love of solitude. —
4. I, wretch that I am,
was living among these angelic souls.
I think they were nothing less,
for they concealed from me,
no fault,
however interior;
while
- the graces,
- the high desires,
and
- detachment
which our Lord gave them,
were exceedingly great.
Their joy was in being alone,
and
they assured me
they were never long enough alone;
and so they looked on it as a torment
whenever any one came to see them,
even though it were a brother.
She who had the most opportunities
of being alone in a hermitage
considered herself the happiest.
5. The Saint's longing. —
5. Very often,
when thinking
- of the great worth of these souls,
and
- of the great courage
— certainly a greater courage
than that of women —
which God gave them
that they might
- bear suffering
and
- serve Him,
it would often strike me
that it was for some great end
that He gave them this wealth.
But what came to pass afterwards
never entered into my mind,
for then it seemed impossible,
because there was no reason
in the world
for imagining it;
still, as time went on,
my desires to do something
for the good of some soul or other
grew more and more,
and very often I looked on myself
as on one
who,
- having great treasures in her keeping,
wished all to have the benefit of it,
- but whose hands were restrained
from distributing it.
Accordingly it seemed to me
that my soul was in bonds,
for the graces our Lord gave me
during those years
were very great,
all of which
seemed to be wasted in me.
I waited on our Lord always
with my poor prayers,
and got my sisters
to do the same,
and
to have a zeal
for the good of souls, and
for the increase of the Church:
they always edified every one
who conversed with them,
and herein my great longings were satisfied.
6. Fray A. Maldonado. —
6. After four years
— I think a little more —
there came to see me
a Franciscan friar, Father Maldonado,
a great servant of God,
having the same desires
that I had for the good of souls.
He was able to carry his into effect,
for which I envied him enough.
He had just returned from the Indies.
He began by telling me
of the many millions of souls there
perishing through the want of instruction,
perishing through the want of instruction,
and preached us a sermon
encouraging us to do penance,
and then went his way.
I was so distressed
because so many souls were perishing
that I could not contain myself.
I went to one of the hermitages,
weeping much,
and cried unto our Lord,
beseeching Him to show me,
when the devil was carrying
so many away,
- how I might do something
to gain a soul for His service,
and
and
- how I might do something by prayer
now that I could do nothing else,
I envied very much those
who for the love of our Lord
could employ themselves
in this work for souls,
though they might suffer a thousand deaths.
Thus, when I am reading
in the lives of the saints
how they converted souls,
I have
more devotion,
more tenderness and envy,
than when I read all the pains
of martyrdom they underwent;
for this is an attraction
which our Lord has given me;
and I think He prizes one soul
which of His mercy
we have gained for Him
by our prayer and labour
more than all the service
we may render Him.
Note to Paragraph #6
regarding Fray A. Maldonado
"Saint Teresa writes of A. Maldonado
which may stand
either for Alphonso,
as her editors have thought,
or for Antonio.
The former ( Fr. Alphonso Maldonado)
belonging to the province
of S. James of the Franciscan Order was
Apostolic preacher and
Commissary General of the West Indies.
He dedicated to Philip II
a book written in Spanish
for the defence of the Religious orders,
entitled, "Defensa de los Pequehos".
[Oeuvres completes de Sainte Terese de Jesus.
Traduction nouvelle par les Carmelites
du premier monastere de Paris.
Paris, 1909, t. in., p. 58 n.1].
The latter ( Fr. Antonio Maldonado)
was actually carrying on missionary work
in the West Indies and had returned shortly
before the interview took place.
[ Kindly communicated
by Rev. Fr. Thaddeus, O.F.M. ] "
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7. A Divine locution.
7. During this great distress
I was one night in prayer,
when our Lord
- appeared to me
in His wonted manner,
and
- shewed me great love,
as if he wished to comfort;
He then said to me,
'Wait a little, my child,
and thou shalt see great things.'
These words were so impressed
on my heart
that I could not forget them;
and though I
- could not find out,
after long thinking over them,
what they could mean,
and
- did not see any way
even to imagine it,
I was greatly comforted,
and fully persuaded
that the words would be found true;
but it never entered my imagination
how they could be.
Another six months went by
— so I think and believe —
and then that happened
which I will now relate.
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| End of Chapter 1 of the
Book of the Foundations
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