of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 10
Chapter 10 Contents
The Foundation in Valladolid
of the Monastery of the
Conception of Our Lady of Carmel
1. The Saint accepts a house
near Valladolid. —
2 . Sudden death of Don Bernardino. —
3. The Saint arrives at Valladolid
10th August. —
4. The first mass. —
5. The Saint sees the soul of Don Bernardino
in a vision. —
6. Illness of the Community. —
7. The nuns remove to the new house,
3rd February 1569.—
8. The story of a widow
and her children. —
9. Family vanity. —
10. Don Antonio de Padilla. —
11. Poverty. —
12. One sister renounces her inheritance
in favour of her youngest sister. —
13. The younger sister's history. —
14. She will give up the world. —
15. And enter into religion.
|
CHAPTER 10
1. The Saint accepts a house
near Valladolid.
1. Four or five months
before the foundation
of the monastery of S. Joseph in Malagon,
a young man, [1]
a member of a noble family,
talking to me, said,
that if I would found
a monastery in Valladolid
he would joyfully give
- a house he had there
with a large and fine garden,
within which was a considerable vineyard,
and
- possession of it at once;
it was of great value.
I accepted it,
but I had not fully made up my mind
to make a foundation there,
because it was a quarter of a league
from the city. [2]
I thought, however,
we might make our way into the city
if once we had possession of that place
and, as he made the offer so generously,
I was unwilling
- to refuse it or
- to trouble his devotion.
2 . Sudden death of Don Bernardino. —
2. About two months after this,
more or less,
he
- became suddenly and rapidly ill,
- lost the power of speaking;, and
- was unable to make his confession
clearly,
though he was,
as he showed by many signs,
praying to our Lord for pardon.
He very soon died,
far enough from the place
where I was then staying. [3]
Our Lord spoke to me and said
- that his salvation had been
in serious danger, and
- that He had had compassion upon him
because of the good work he had done
for His Mother
in giving his house for a monastery
of her order;
nevertheless,
he would be detained in purgatory
till the first mass should be said there,
when he would be delivered.
The dread penalties of this soul
were so constantly before me that,
though I wished to found a house in Toledo,
[4]
I gave it up for the time,
and made all the haste I could
to found, as well as I could,
the house in Valladolid.
3. The Saint arrives at Valladolid
10th August. —
3. It could not be done so quickly
as I wished,
for I was detained for many days
in S. Joseph's, Avila,
of which I had the charge,
and again
in S. Joseph's in Medina del Campo,
for I went thither; [5]
and there one day in prayer
our Lord bade me make haste,
for that soul was in great suffering.
Though I had not made many preparations,
I set about the work,
and entered Valladolid
on the feast of S. Lawrence,
10th August 1568.
As I looked at the house
I fell into great distress,
for I saw how foolish it would be
for nuns to remain there,
except at a very great cost;
though the place was pleasant to behold,
because the garden was so charming,
it could not fail to be unwholesome,
for it was close to the river.
4. The first mass. —
4. Though I was tired
I had to hear mass in a monastery
of our order,
at the entrance of the city,
and so far away
that it made my sufferings twice as great.
Nevertheless I said nothing to those
who were with me,
lest I should discourage them,
for, though weak,
I had some confidence
that our Lord, who had told me
what I have just related,
would come to our help.
I sent for workmen in the utmost secrecy,
and began to have the ruined walls
filled up with clay
to secure our privacy,
and to do whatever else was necessary.
The ecclesiastic
of whom I spoke before,
Julian of Avila, [6]
and one of the two friars
already mentioned,
already mentioned,
who [7]
- wished to become a discalced, and
- was learning our way of living,
were with us.
Julian of Avila was occupied
in obtaining the licence of the ordinary,
who had given us hopes of it
before I arrived. [8]
We could not get the licence soon enough,
for the Sunday came
before it could reach us;
however, they gave us leave
- to have mass said where we were
- to have our church,
and accordingly it was said there. [9]
5. The Saint sees the soul
of Don Bernardino in a vision. —
5. I was very far from thinking
that what had been said to me
of that soul
was to be fulfilled then,
for, though I was told it would be
at the first mass,
I thought the mass must be that
during which the Most Holy Sacrament
would be reserved.
When the priest was coming towards us
to the place
where we were to communicate,
with the Most Holy Sacrament in his hands,
and myselt drawing near to receive Him,
I saw that nobleman,
of whom I spoke before,
close to the priest:
his face was bright and shining,
his hands were joined together,
and he thanked me
for what I had done to enable him to
- depart out of purgatory
and
- ascend to heaven.
- ascend to heaven.
And indeed I was
very far from thinking so,
and in sadness enough,
when I was first told
that he was in the way of salvation:
it seemed to me
that he needed another kind of death,
considering the life he led,
considering the life he led,
for, though he had good qualities,
his life was worldly.
It is true
he had told my companions
that he always thought of death.
It is very wonderful
how pleasing to our Lord
is any service whatever
done to His Mother,
and
His mercy is great.
Bless Him and praise Him forever
Who thus
- rewards our mean services
with everlasting life and blessedness,
and
- makes them great
when they are in themselves
but little worth.
6. Illness of the Community. —
6. On the feast of the Assumption
of our Lady, August 15, 1568,
we took possession of the monastery.
We remained there
but a short time,
for nearly all of us fell very ill.
A lady, there living, observed it, [10]
who was Dona Maria de Mendoza,
wife of the knight commander Cobos, [11]
mother of the marquis of Caraarasa,
a most perfect Christian,
and most charitable,
as her abundant alms bear ample witness.
She had been very kind to me formerly
when I had much to do with her,
for she is the sister of the Bishop of Avila,
who helped us much
in the foundation of the first monastery,
and in everything touching the order. [12]
As she was so charitable,
and saw that we could not remain
but under great difficulties,
- because it was a long way
to send alms to us,
and
- because the place was unhealthy,
she told us to give up that house,
that she would find us another;
and so she did,
and the one she gave us
was worth much more;
besides, she supplied
all that was needful for us
to this present time,
and will do so,
so long as she shall live.
7. The nuns remove to the new house,
3rd February 1569.—
7. On the feast of S. Blasius
we went to our new house
in a grand procession, and
with much devotion
on the part of the people,
which it still retains;
for our Lord
- works many graces in the house, and
- has brought souls into it
-- whose sanctity shall be recorded
at the proper time,
-- to the praise of our Lord,
- Who by means of them
was pleased
-- to magnify His works, and
-- to magnify His works, and
-- to show mercy to His creatures. [13]
For there came one to us here
in her early youth
who showed us what the world is
by despising it.
I have thought it well
to speak of her now,
- that they who love the world so much
may be put to shame, and
- that from her example
young girls
to whom our Lord sends
good inspirations and desires
may learn how to act upon them.
8. The story of a widow
and her children. —
8. There lives here a lady,
Dona Maria de Acuna,
sister of the Count of Buendia,
who had married the president of Castille.
[14]
He died when she was still young,
and left her with three children,
one son and two daughters.
She then began
to live a life of such great sanctity, and
to bring up her children so religiously,
as to merit their vocation from our Lord.
I have made a mistake
— she had three daughters:
one became forthwith a nun, [15]
another refused marriage,
and lived a most edifying life
with her mother.
In his early youth, the son
began to understand
what the world is,
what the world is,
and
God (began)
to call him into religion
in such a way
that nobody could move him
from his purpose.
His mother looked on
with such great joy
that she must have been helping him
by her prayers to our Lord,
though she did not let it be known,
on account of their kindred.
In short,
if our Lord will have a soul come to Him
no creature in the world
is strong enough to hinder it.
So it was here.
The youth, though kept back
by much importunity for three years,
entered the Society of Jesus.
This lady said to her confessor, [16]
from whom I have it,
that her heart was never so full of joy
in her lite
as on the diay
when her son made his profession.
9. Family vanity. —
9. O Lord,
what a grand grace is that
which Thou givest those
to whom Thou givest such parents
— parents who love their children
so truly as to wish them to find
their inherited dignities,
entailed estates, and wealth
in that blessedness
which will never end !
What a sad thing it is
the world is so wretched and blind
that fathers think their honour lies
- in not suffering memorials
of their having been owners
of the dunghills of this world's goods
to perish,
( Blog note:
- in not ending their
memorials / tribute / monuments
of the dunghills
of this world's goods )
and
- in the preservation of that
which sooner or later
must come to an end !
and everything
of which there is to be an end,
however lasting,
is
- perishing, and
- deserves but scanty consideration.
Parents,
at the cost of their own poor children,
are resolved to
- maintain their vanity, and
- boldly withhold
-- from God
the souls He is drawing to Himself,
and
-- from those souls
so great a blessing;
For, though
- it be not one
- it be not one
that is to last for ever,
- it is one to which God calls them,
- it being a very great one
to be delivered
from the weariness and exactions
of the world,
and they are heaviest upon those
whose possessions are the largest.
Open their eyes, O my God;
Teach them
what that love is
which they are bound to have
for their children,
- that they may not do them
so much harm, and
- that their children may not complain
of them before God
on the day of their final judgment,
when they shall learn,
whether they like it or not,
what everything is worth.
10. Don Antonio de Padilla. —
10. Then, when,
through the compassion of God,
Don Antonio de Padilla,
the noble child
of the noble Lady Maria de Acuna,
quitted the world at the age of seventeen,
more or less,
the elder daughter, Dona Luisa,
became heir to his estates;
The count of Buendia had no children,
and
and
Don Antonio was heir to his title
as well as to the presidency of Castille.
as well as to the presidency of Castille.
But, as that does not belong to my subject,
I say nothing of all he had to suffer
at the hands of his kindred
before he carried out his purpose.
He will understand
who knows
how much people of the world make
of having an heir in their families. [17]
11. Poverty. —
11. O Jesus Christ, our Lord,
King over all things,
Son of the Everlasting Father,
what hast Thou left in the world
for us, Thy children, to inherit ?
What were Thy possessions ?
Only toil, and sorrow, and insult.
Thou hadst nothing
but the hard wood to rest on
when undergoing the bitter anguish of death.
Ah, my God,
it is not fitting
that we should run away from suffering
if we would be Thy children indeed,
and not renounce the inheritance.
Thine armorial bearings are five wounds:
Then, my children,
that must be also our device
if we are to inherit His Kingdom.
It is
not ease,
nor comfort,
nor honours,
nor riches
that will obtain for us
what He purchased by so much blood.
O ye of noble birth,
open your eyes for the love of God;
Behold the true soldiers of Jesus Christ
and the princes of His church.
As S. Peter and S. Paul never travelled
by your road.
Perhaps you think
that a new road has been made for you:
Believe it not.
See how our Lord began to show you
the road by means of persons,
young as they are,
of whom I am now speaking.
I have occasionally seen and spoken to
Don Antonio:
He wished his possessions had been greater
that he might have had more to leave.
Blessed children both of them,
whose merits were so great
in the eyes of God,
at an age
when the world usually rules
the dwellers in it
that they were able to trample it
under their feet.
Blessed be He who wrought in them
so great a work !
12. One sister renounces her inheritance
in favour of her youngest sister. —
12. Then, when the elder sister succeeded
to the honours ot her house,
she did with them
as her brother had done;
for she had from her earliest years
so given herself unto prayer
(it is in prayer
that our Lord gives us
light to see the truth)
that she esteemed them
as lightly as her brother had done.
O my God,
what troubles and vexations,
what litigation
— yea, what risks of life and honour,
many would have undergone
for the succession
to this inheritance !
The troubles of these two
were not light
when they had agreed to give it up.
So is the world
— how clearly it shows us its follies
if we were not blind !
With her whole heart,
then, in order to be delivered
from this inheritance,
did she renounce it
in favour of her sister,
for there was nobody else
to accept it,
who was about ten or eleven years of age.
Her kindred at once,
in order that the melancholy monuments
of earthly dignities might not perish
- arranged her marriage
with one of her uncles,
a brother of her father,' [18]
- obtained a dispensation
from the sovereign Pontiff, and
- betrothed her.
13. The younger sister's history. —
13. It was not our Lord's pleasure that
a daughter of such a mother,
a sister of such a brother and sisters,
should be any more deceived
than they were,
and accordingly
what I am now going to tell
came to pass.
The child began
to wear the dress and ornaments
which became her rank, and
which might have influenced her
at so tender an age,
but she had hardly been betrothed
two months
when our Lord, Himself,
began to give her light,
though she at the time
did not clearly see it.
did not clearly see it.
Having spent the day,
to her own great joy,
with her bridegroom,
whom she loved with an affection
beyond her years,
she fell into a profound sorrow,
thinking
- how the day was ended,
and
- that every other day must be ended
in the same way.
Oh, how grand is God !
That very joy
which she received
from the joy
she had in perishable things
became hateful to her.
Then arose a sadness
so great
as to be more
than she could hide from her bridegroom.
She did not know
whence it came,
nor could she account for it,
even when he asked her the cause of it.
14. She will give up the world. —
14. At this time
the bridegroom had a journey to make
which would take him far away
from the place,
and she felt it deeply,
because she loved him so much.
But our Lord revealed to her then
the source of her suffering
— that her soul was yearning
after that which never ends,
and she began to see
that her brother and sisters
had taken the safest course, and
had left her behind
amid the dangers of the world.
The thought
of this,
of this,
on the one hand,
and,
on the other,
of there being no help for it
( for she did not know till later,
when she made inquiries,
that notwithstanding her betrothal,
she might yet become a nun),
kept her sad,
and above all,
and above all,
her love for him
who was to be her husband
hindered her from coming
to any resolution,
and thus her days were passed
in much heaviness.
But, as our Lord meant to have her
for Himself,
- He took away from her
that love, and
- the desire of giving up all things
grew within her.
At this time her only wish was
- her own salvation, and
- the finding out the best way for that end;
for she thought
if she gave herself more
to the things of the world
she might forget to strive
after that which is eternal.
God filled her with wisdom
at this tender age
to seek the means of gaining
that which never ends.
15. And enter into religion.
15. O happy soul,
to come forth so early
out of the darkness
in which many who are old are lost !
As soon as she saw her affections were free
she made up her mind
to give them wholly unto God
— for until then she had kept
her own secret —
and
began to speak to her sister of her state.
The sister,
looking on it as a childish fancy,
dissuaded her from her purpose,
and among other things, told her
that she could be saved
in the state of marriage.
She replied,
'Why, then, did you renounce that state
for yourself ? '
Thus it went on for some days,
and her good desires were growing always;
Her mother, however,
did not dare to speak,
but perhaps, after all,
it was she
who, by her holy prayers,
was carrying on the warfare.
____________________
Foot Notes:
[1]
'Don Bernardino de Mcndoza,
brother of the Bishop of Avila,
belonging to the family
of the Counts of Ribadavia.
He had known S. Teresa at Avila
and given costly vestments
to the convent of S. Joseph.
______________________
[2]
Nuns are forbidden
by the council of Trent
to live outside cities. . . .
Et quia monasteria sanctimonialium,
extra moenia urbis
vel oppidi constituta,
malorum hominum praedae
et aliis facinoribus,
sine ulla saepe
custodia sunt exposita,
curent episcopi et alii superiores,
si ita videbitur expedire,
ut sanctimoniales ex eis
ad nova vel antiqua monasteria intra
urbes vel oppida frequentia reducantur,
invocato etiam auxilio,
si opus fuerlt, brachii sascularis.
(Sess. xxv. de reg. et mon., c. 5.)
____________
Blog Note - Rough translation:
Since monasteries of nuns
which are established outside the walls
of the city
are without protection,
exposed to the crimes of evil men
and other actions,
the bishops and other superiors
shall have it seen to - to remove the nuns to
new or old monasteries inside the city
or more populous / frequented towns,
invoking help, if the work requires it,
of the secular arm.
[Council of Trent: Session 25:
( Topic: "Concerning Regulars And Nuns")
Chapter 3]
________________________
[3]
Don Bernardino died in Ubeda,
when the Saint was in the monastery
of Maria of Jesus,
in Alcala de Henares.
[Ribera, bk. ii. ch. xii.]
________________________
[4]
At this time the Saint
having written the final version of her Life,
sent it to Blessed Juan of Avila,
by whose judgment,
according to the advice
of the inquisitor Soto,
she was to abide.
From Toledo she writes to her friend,
Dona Luisa de la Cerda
on the feast of the Ascension,
27th May 1568,
and from Avila in June.
[See Foundations: Ch. xiii. 2]
_________________________
[5]
See Foundations: Ch. xiii.
The Saint on her way
to Medina from Avila,
visited the site offered her
by Don Rafael Mejia Velasquez
for the monastery of the friars in Duruelo,
possession of which was taken
by S. John of the Cross and his companions
in the autumn
[Reforma, bk. ii. ch. xiv. 2, 3.
[ See Foundations: Ch xiii. 4]
__________________________
[6] Julian of Avila,
[ Foundations: Ch. III: #2.]
_________________________
[7]
See ch. 3: #16.
S. John of the Cross
and Antonio de Heredia,
the former of whom was then
with the Saint. Fray Antonio
had been left at Medina
[Reforma, bk. ii. ch. xiv. 5]
__________________________
[8]
The Saint,
from Duruelo,
the morning after her visit to that place,
had sent Julian of Avila to Olmedo,
where the bishop was at the time,
to treat about the foundation, and
to obtain letters from him
to the abbot of Valladolid,
whose jurisdiction at that time
was quasi-episcopal,
but subject to the Bishop of Palencia
[Reforma, ii. ch. xiv. 4. bk. v. ch.xiii. 2],
Valladolid became an episcopal church
only in 1595,
the first bishop being Don Pedro Laptaza.
__________________________
[9]
The Saint reached Valladolid
on Tuesday, 10th August, 1568.
On the following Sunday,
which was the feast of the Assumption,
15 th August,
the event described in §5 took place.
She was therefore slightly mistaken
when saying that a Sunday intervened
between her arrival and the feast.
___________________________
[10]
'The prioress appointed by the Saint
was Isabel of the Cross.
Dona Maria took all the nuns
into her own house
when she found their health failing,
assigned them rooms for their devotion,
and kept them till February 3rd
in the following year,
when they removed to the new monastery
(which they still occupy),
as the Saint tells us
in the next paragraph
[Reforma, bk. ii. ch. xv. 5]
___________________________
[11]
Don Francisco de los Cobos.
___________________________
[12]
The Saint, writing on 17th January 1570,
to her brother Don Lorenzo,
speaks of Dona Maria de Mendoza
in these terms:
"About a year ago I had a fever,
but I am now all the better for it.
I was busy with the foundation in Valladolid,
and Dona Maria de Mendoza,
widow of secretary Cobos,
killed me with kindness.
She has a great affection for me."
_____________________________
[13]
The rest of this, and
the whole of the next chapter,
was omitted in the original edition.
_____________________________
[14]
Dona Maria de Acuna
married in 1547 Don Juan de Padilla Manrique,
adelaniado mayor (governor) of Castille,
who died 28th October 1563.
[ Oevres,III 155, n. I.]
_____________________________
[15]
In the monastery of the Dominican nuns
in Valladolid
________________________
[16]
Fr. Jerome Ripalda,
rector of the house of the Jesuits
in Valladolid.
________________________
[17]
Don Antonio was received
into the Society at Valladolid,
8th March 1572,
and made his noviciate
at Medina del Campo
under Father Baltasar Alvarez.
After having filled various offices
he died at Valladolid , 29th November l6ll.
[ Oeuvers, iii. 156 n. i ]
________________________
[18]
Don Juan de Padilla
had three brothers,
Don Gomez Manrique,
commendatory of the Order of CaLatrava.
Don Pedro Manrique de Padilla,
canon of Toledo and afterwards Jesuit,
and
Don Martin de Padilla, the
_/ftf«(r/ of Casilda.
Oeuvres, iii. 157. n. i.
|
End of Chapter 10
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
