Discussion of Chapter 1
of the
Book of the Foundations
of the
Book of the Foundations
█ Summary
█ Question/Answer Format
____________________
. 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. . |
Discussion of Chapter 1
█ Summary
St. Teresa describes the virtues of the nuns
of the Monastery of St. Joseph
▀ Detachment
Poverty of Spirit
She talks about the detachment of the nuns
from material good,
and even from necessities,
when they were temporarily scarce.
When food was scarce
St. Teresa said to her nuns
that what they did have
would be provided to "those who wanted it most".
"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"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #1 ]
Although many of the nuns-to-be
appeared worldly
when they first entered the Monastery,
their prayers and efforts,
with the help of God,
with the help of God,
led them to grow in detachment and virtue.
"young persons...
whom the world...had already made its own,
...as it seemed...
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"
"...whose only anxiety was
to praise and serve our Lord".
[ Foundations: Ch1; #1 ]
"- the graces,
- the high desires,
and
- detachment
which our Lord gave them,
were exceedingly great.
[ Foundations: Ch1; #4 ]
▀ Faith in the Providence of God
She also speaks of their Faith and confidence
in the Providence of God:
"I....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
but that of pleasing Him"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #1 ]
St. Teresa gave a specific example
of the faith of the nuns
when, against the advise of experts,
they proceeded to have a defunct well repaired:
"Our Lord must find some one to
- supply us with water and
- give us wherewithal to support him"
"Considering the great faith and resolution
with which she (one of the nuns) said this,
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..."
[ Foundations: Ch1; #3 ]
▀ Obedience:
She describes the peacefullness and confidence
that comes from obedience:
"The fact that she was
acting under obedience
made her natural reason blind,
so that she believed
that what she did was perfectly right.
She describes how a nun's obedience
supported her acceptance and endeavors
of multiple directive
despite contradictory demands:
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".
[ Foundations: Ch1; #2 ]
She seems to be describing that with obedience,
the nun can proceed with the task with love
without conflict or worry
regard the outcome or method.
▀ Love of Solitude
with God in prayer
"Their joy was in being alone"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #4 ]
▀ Zeal for souls
that souls may receive graces from God
St. Teresa marveled at the nun's
courage and virtue.
She felt that the sacrifices and services
that they offered to God, with His help and graces,
would make them instruments for His work.
"that it was for some great end
that He gave them this wealth"
"when thinking
- of the great worth of these souls,
and
- of the great courage...
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".
She explains that her own desires
to help souls proceed or return to God, increased
and also this became the desire of her nuns.
"my desires to do something
for the good of some soul or other
grew more and more,
...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.
...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."
[ Foundations: Ch1; #5 ]
St. Teresa also spoke in this regard
of Father A. Maldonado
who had "the same desires
that I had for the good of souls".
By his work in the missions,
he described first hand
the need of souls for assistance:
"He was able
to carry his (desires)into effect,
He had just returned from the Indies"
St. Teresa desired to do such works too
for the progression of souls:
"for which I envied him enough.
I envied very much those
who for the love of our Lord
could employ themselves
in this work for souls...
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".
Ultimately, through prayer and the help of God,
she realized and concluded
that what they were able to do
according to their religious vocation
in the cloistered monastery,
rather than yearn
for a different missionary vocation:
-- By their own "prayer and labor"
when offered for the benefit of souls,
would please God more than other service.
"I was so distressed
because so many souls were perishing
I...cried unto our Lord,
beseeching Him to show me,
- how I might do something
to gain a soul for His service,
and
- how I might do something by prayer
now that I could do nothing else"
She concludes:
"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".
Likewise, Father Maldonado also advised
the nuns to participate in the work of assisting souls
in the ways available to them at their convent:
"He...(told) of the many millions
of souls there perishing
through the want of instruction,
and preached us a sermon
encouraging us to do penance"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #6 ]
. From The Way of Perfection Chapter 18 "the Lord - knows everyone as he really is and - gives each his work to do-- according to what He sees to be most fitting for his soul, and for His own Self, and for the good of his neighbour". . |
. From The Interior Castle 7th mansion Chapter 4 (Martha and Mary) Paragraph 21. Can we lead souls to God? Paragraph 22. How to do so. Paragraph 23. Love gives value to our deeds. Paragraph 21. Can we lead souls to God? Secondly, you may say - that you have neither the power nor the means to lead souls to God; - though you would willingly do so, you do not know how, as you can neither teach nor preach as did the Apostles. ...the difficulty probably often crosses your minds on account of the desires our Lord gives you of serving Him... the devil frequently fills our thoughts with great schemes, so that instead of putting our hands to what work we can do to serve our Lord, we may rest satisfied with wishing to perform impossibilities. Paragraph 22. How to do so. You can do much by prayer; and then, - do not try to help the whole world, - but principally your companions; this work will be all the better because you are the more bound to it. Do you think it is a trifling matter that your humility and mortification, your readiness to serve your sisters, your fervent charity towards them, and your love of God, should be as a fire to enkindle their zeal, and that you should constantly incite them to practise the other virtues? This would be a great work and one most pleasing to our Lord: by thus doing all that is in your power, you would prove to His Majesty your willingness to do still more and He would reward you as if you had won Him many souls. Do you answer: ’This would not be converting my sisters, for they are very good already?’ What business is that of yours? If they were still better, - the praise they render God would please Him more and - their prayers would be more helpful to their neighbours. Paragraph 23. Love gives value to our deeds. In short, my sisters, I will conclude with this advice; - do not build towers without a foundation, for our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the love with which they are done. When we do all we can, His Majesty will enable us to do more every day. If we do not grow weary, but during the brief time this life lasts (and perhaps it will be shorter than any of you think) we give our Lord every sacrifice we can, both interior and exterior, His Majesty will unite them with that He offered to His Father for us on the Cross so that they may be worth the value given them by our love, however mean the works themselves may be. [ Translated by the Benedictines of Stanbrook Source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) www.ccel/teresa/castle2.xi.iv.html ] . |
At the end of chapter One,
perhaps St. Teresa is hinting
that she will soon relate
how a great opportunity for benefiting souls
did indeed become available to them
in their convent life.
She wrote:
"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.'
Another six months went by...
and then that happened
which I will now relate.
[ Foundations: Ch1; #7]
________________________________
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
█ Question/Answer Format
. 1). What virtues of the nuns of the Monastery of St. Joseph did St. Teresa describe in chapter 1? 2a). How did she describe the nuns' Poverty of Spirit/ Detachment? 2b). How did they manage when there was not sufficient food? 3). How did she describe the nuns' Faith in the Providence of God? 4). How did she describe the nuns' Obedience? 5a). What was "The Saint's longing" ? 5b). How did she describe the nuns' Zeal for the benefit of souls? 5c). St. Teresa's zeal for souls gave her a holy envy of those who "could actively employ themselves in this work for souls". How did she resolve this holy envy? . |
1). What virtues of the nuns
of the Monastery of St. Joseph
did St. Teresa describe in chapter 1?
St. Teresa described the nuns' virtues of:
▪ Detachment / Poverty of Spirit
▪ Faith in the Providence of God
▪ Obedience
▪ Love of Solitude: with God in prayer
▪ Zeal for souls
that souls may return or progress to God
_______________________
2a). How did she describe the nuns'
Poverty of Spirit/ Detachment?
In speaking of the nuns' detachment, she said:
"Our Lord very quickly
- set them free from their vanities,
- drew them into His own house, and
- endowed them with a perfection so great"
That they were not concerned
with the goods and affairs of the world
and that their "only anxiety was
to praise and serve our Lord".
[ Foundations: Ch1; #1 ]
"- the graces,
- the high desires,
and
- detachment
which our Lord gave them,
were exceedingly great.
[ Foundations: Ch1; #4 ]
____________________________
2b). How did they manage
when there was not sufficient food?
When food was scarce
St. Teresa said to her nuns
that what they did have
would be provided
to "those who wanted it most".
"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"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #1 ]
__________________________
3). How did she describe the nuns'
Faith in the Providence of God?
"I was persuaded
that our Lord would never fail those
who had no other care
but that of pleasing Him"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #1 ]
St. Teresa gave a specific example
of the faith of the nuns
when, against the advise of experts,
they proceeded to have a defunct well repaired:
"Our Lord must find some one to
- supply us with water and
- give us wherewithal to support him"
"Considering the great faith
and resolution
and resolution
with which she (one of the nuns) said this,
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..."
[ Foundations: Ch1; #3 ]
___________________________
4). How did she describe the nuns' Obedience?
She describes the peacefullness and confidence
that comes from obedience:
"The fact that she was
acting under obedience
made her natural reason blind,
so that she believed
that what she did was perfectly right.
She describes how a nun's obedience
supported her acceptance and endeavors
of multiple directive
despite contradictory demands:
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".
[ Foundations: Ch1; #2 ]
She seems to be describing that with obedience,
the nun can proceed with the task with love
without conflict or worry
regard the outcome or method.
________________________
5a). What was "The Saint's longing" ?
The saint's longing was for
- the progression of souls to God
- return of souls to God
"my desires to do something
for the good of some soul or other
grew more and more,
Even when she recognized the graces and favors
which Our Lord bestowed on her,
she felt unable to "distribute" them
or benefit other souls by them:
...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.
...I waited on our Lord always
with my poor prayers"
______________________
5b). How did she describe the nuns'
Zeal for the benefit of souls?
This zeal for souls was a virtue
which she also praised in her nuns.
"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."
[ Foundations: Ch1; #5 ]
_______________________________
5c). St. Teresa's zeal for souls gave her a holy envy
of those who "could actively employ themselves
in this work for souls".
How did she resolve this holy envy?
St. Teresa also spoke in this regard
of Father A. Maldonado
who had "the same desires
that I had for the good of souls".
By his work in the missions,
he described first hand
the need of souls for assistance:
"He was able
to carry his (desires)into effect,
He had just returned from the Indies"
St. Teresa desired to do such works too
for the progression of souls:
"for which I envied him enough.
I envied very much those
who for the love of our Lord
could employ themselves
in this work for souls...
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".
Resolution:
[ She said
that one should do what they can do with love
in their vocation / where they are situated
and
that Love gives value to our deeds. ]
[ She said
that one should do what they can do with love
in their vocation / where they are situated
and
that Love gives value to our deeds. ]
Ultimately, through prayer and the help of God,
she realized and concluded
that what they were able to do
according to their religious vocation
in the cloistered monastery,
rather than yearn
for a different missionary vocation:
-- By their own "prayer and labor"
when offered for the benefit of souls,
would please God more than other service.
"I was so distressed
because so many souls were perishing
I...cried unto our Lord,
beseeching Him to show me,
- how I might do something
to gain a soul for His service,
and
- how I might do something by prayer
now that I could do nothing else"
She concludes:
"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".
Likewise, Father Maldonado also advised
the nuns to participate in the work of assisting souls
in the ways available to them in their vocation
at their convent:
at their convent:
"He...(told) of the many millions
of souls there perishing
through the want of instruction,
and preached us a sermon
encouraging us to do penance"
[ Foundations: Ch1; #6 ]
. From The Way of Perfection Chapter 18 "the Lord - knows everyone as he really is and - gives each his work to do-- according to what He sees to be most fitting for his soul, and for His own Self, and for the good of his neighbour". . |
. From The Interior Castle 7th mansion Chapter 4 (Martha and Mary) Paragraph 21. Can we lead souls to God? Paragraph 22. How to do so. Paragraph 23. Love gives value to our deeds. Paragraph 21. Can we lead souls to God? Secondly, you may say - that you have neither the power nor the means to lead souls to God; - though you would willingly do so, you do not know how, as you can neither teach nor preach as did the Apostles. ...the difficulty probably often crosses your minds on account of the desires our Lord gives you of serving Him... the devil frequently fills our thoughts with great schemes, so that instead of putting our hands to what work we can do to serve our Lord, we may rest satisfied with wishing to perform impossibilities. Paragraph 22. How to do so. You can do much by prayer; and then, - do not try to help the whole world, - but principally your companions; this work will be all the better because you are the more bound to it. Do you think it is a trifling matter that your humility and mortification, your readiness to serve your sisters, your fervent charity towards them, and your love of God, should be as a fire to enkindle their zeal, and that you should constantly incite them to practise the other virtues? This would be a great work and one most pleasing to our Lord: by thus doing all that is in your power, you would prove to His Majesty your willingness to do still more and He would reward you as if you had won Him many souls. Do you answer: ’This would not be converting my sisters, for they are very good already?’ What business is that of yours? If they were still better, - the praise they render God would please Him more and - their prayers would be more helpful to their neighbours. Paragraph 23. Love gives value to our deeds. In short, my sisters, I will conclude with this advice; - do not build towers without a foundation, for our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the love with which they are done. When we do all we can, His Majesty will enable us to do more every day. If we do not grow weary, but during the brief time this life lasts (and perhaps it will be shorter than any of you think) we give our Lord every sacrifice we can, both interior and exterior, His Majesty will unite them with that He offered to His Father for us on the Cross so that they may be worth the value given them by our love, however mean the works themselves may be. [ Translated by the Benedictines of Stanbrook Source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) www.ccel/teresa/castle2.xi.iv.html ] . |
. End of the Discussion of Chapter 1 of the Book of the Foundations . |
