. PROLOGUE BOOK OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF St. TERESA Written by Herself PROLOGUE J. H. S. 1. Obedience. 2. The Saint is bidden to write. 3. She will be truthful. 4. Her plan. 5. The Saint makes excuses for herself. 6. Takes pains to be exact. . |
1. Obedience.
1. Experience has shown me
— setting that aside which
I have read in many places —
the great blessing it is
for a soul never to withdraw
from under obedience.
Herein lie, in my opinion,
growth in goodness
and
the gaining of humility.
Herein lies our security
amidst the doubts
whether we are not straying
from the heavenly road,
which, as mortal men,
it is right we should have
while we are living here on earth.
Herein is found that rest
which is so dear to souls
desirous of pleasing God;
for, if they
- have really resigned themselves
to holy obedience,
and
- have made their understanding
captive thereto,
seeking no other will
but
that of their confessor,
and if religious
that of their superior,
Satan refrains from assailing them
with his continual suspicions,
seeing that he loses
rather than gains thereby.
Moreover,
our restless movements,
fond of
having their own way,
and even of
making the reason subject to them
in those things
which can give us pleasure,
- cease,
- being reminded
that the will is definitely given up
to the will of God,
through that subjection of self to him
who stands in His place.
As His Majesty of His goodness
has given me light
to see the great treasure
hidden in this priceless virtue,
I have laboured,
however weakly and imperfectly,
to possess myself of it,
though the work is often irksome,
because of the little goodness
I behold in myself;
for I see that it does not reach
to some things
which I have been commanded to do.
May His Divine Majesty
supply my shortcomings
in the work now before me!
2. The Saint is bidden to write.
2. In the year 1562,
the very year in which
this house of S. Joseph in Avila
was founded
I was ordered
when in that house,
by my confessor,
the Dominican friar,
Father Garcia of Toledo,
to write the history of the foundation
of the monastery,
together with other matters,
which any one,
if it is ever published,
may see.
I am now in Salamanca, in the year 1573
— eleven years have passed
since then —
and my confessor, the Master Ripalda,
Father Rector of the Society,
has ordered me to write.
He,
having seen the book containing
the story of the first foundation,
"thought it would be a service
done to our Lord
if I
- committed to writing
the story of the other seven" monasteries
which, by the goodness of our Lord,
have since that time been founded,
and
- told at the same time
how the monasteries of the barefooted
fathers of the primitive rule began.
. The history of the foundation of the monastery of S. Joseph in Avila begins with ch. xxxii. and ends ch. xxxvii of the Life. * The seventh monastery was that of Alba de Tormes, and the history of that foundation is given in ch. xx. . |
While I was looking on it
as a thing impossible for me,
- because of the many things
I had to do
— I had letters to write
and matters to transact,
from which I could not release myself,
because they were assigned me
by the commandment of my superiors —
and
I was praying to God thereupon,
and somewhat distressed,
- because I was able to do so little,
and
- because my health was so weak —
for even without this additional labour
I seem very often, and
I am naturally worthless,
unable to bear my burden,
Our Lord said to me,
'Child, obedience gives strength.'
[ See Life, ch. xviii. 10 ]
May it please His Majesty
it may be so, and
May He give me grace
to enable me to relate to His glory,
the great things
He hath done for the order
in these foundations.
3. She will be truthful.
3. It may be held for certain
that everything will be truly told,
without any exaggeration
whatever, to the best of my knowledge,
exactly as it happened;
for in matters even of the least importance
I would not tell a lie for anything
on this earth.'*
[ *See Life, ch. xxviii. 6.]
In this my writing —
to the praise ot our Lord —
an untruth would be a heavy burden
on my conscience,
and I should believe it
to be not merely a wasting of time,
but a deceiving of others
in the things of God,
Who would be offended,
not honoured, thereby:
it would be an act of high treason.
May it please His Majesty
not to abandon me,
that I may not fall into that evil.
4. Her plan.
4. Each foundation
shall have its own story,
and I shall try to be brief if I can;
but my style is so heavy,
that even against my will
I fear I shall be tedious
to others and
to myself.
However, my daughters,
to whom it is to be given
when my days are ended,
will be able to bear with it
out of the love that they have for me.
May our Lord grant,
for I seek nothing for myself, and
have no right to do so,
but only His praise and glory
— for there are many things
to be written here
for which men should praise Him —
that they who shall read it
may be very far from attributing
anything I have done
to myself,
for that would be against the truth;
let them rather pray to His Majesty
to forgive me
who have profited so little
by all His mercies.
My children have much more reason
to complain of me herein
than they have to thank me
for what I have done.
Let us give all our thanks, my children,
to the Divine Goodness
for the many graces
He has given us.
I ask, for the love of God,
one Ave Maria
of everyone who shall read this,
that it may help me
out of purgatory,
and
to arrive at the vision
of Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost
liveth and reigneth for ever and ever.
Amen.
5. The Saint makes excuses for herself.
5. I believe much
that is very important
will be left untold,
because of the weakness of my memory;
and
other things will be told
which may well be forgotten:
in a word, it will be
all in keeping
with my scanty abilties and dullness,
and also
with my little leisure for writing.
6. Takes pains to be exact.
6. They bid me also,
if I have the opportunity,
to speak
of prayer, and
of the delusions incident thereto
which keep men of prayer
from making progress.
I submit myself in everything
to the teaching
of the Holy Mother Church of Rome *,
and am resolved
that learned and spiritual men shall see it
before it shall reach your hands,
my sisters and my children.
[* The word, Romana,
added later, between the lines,
but in the handwriting of the Saint. ]
I begin in the name of our Lord,
invoking the help
of His glorious Mother,
whose habit 1 wear,
though unworthy of it,
and
of my glorious father and lord,
S. Joseph,
in whose house I am:
for this monastery of barefooted nuns
is under his protection,
by whose prayers I am continually helped.
In the year mclxxiii,
the twenty-fourth day of August,
the feast of saint Lewis, King of France.
Praise be to God.
Here beginneth the Foundation
of S. Joseph of the Carmel
of Medina del Campo
_______________________
| . End of the Prologue of the Book of the Foundations . |
