The Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 7
Contents
- How To Treat Those
Who Suffer From Melancholy.
- This Chapter Is Necessary
For The Prioresses
1. Evil effects of melancholy. —
2. Melancholy an instrument
of Satan. —
3. How it is to be corrected. —
4. Dangers of it. —
5. Need of sharp remedies. —
6. Merit of endurance. —
7. Melancholy to be treated as madness. —
8. A disease. —
9. Remedies for it. —
10. Prayer of the melancholy
to be shortened. —
11. Why the Saint dwells so much on it. —
12. The second reason. —
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1. Evil effects of melancholy. —
1. These my sisters of S. Joseph's
in Salamanca,
where I am staying
while writing this, [1]
have pressed me much
to say something about
the treatment of melancholy;
for, however careful we may be
not to admit nuns subject to it,
the disease is so subtle
that it counterfeits death
whenever it is necessary,
and accordingly, we do not find it out
till it is too late.
I think I have said something about it
in a little book of mine: [2]
I do not remember:
if I speak of it now
there can be no harm,
if our Lord will be pleased
to help me to do it aright.
It may be that I have said it already
at some other time:
I would say it a hundred times
if I thought I could once say anything
that would be of any use.
The devices which this temper
searches out
for the purpose of doing its own will
are so many
that it becomes necessary
to look into them,
to enable us to
bear with it and
control it,
lest it should do a mischief to others.
2. Melancholy an instrument of Satan. —
2. It is to be observed
that they are not all so troublesome
who are subject to melancholy;
for humble and gentle persons thus afflicted,
though very troublesome to themselves,
never do any harm to others,
never do any harm to others,
especially if they have good sense.
And, moreover,
there are varieties of this temper.
I verily believe
that Satan lays hold of it in some people
as a means whereby to draw them to himself
if he can,
and he will do so
if they are not very careful:
for, as the chief work of this temper
is to bring reason under its control,
which then becomes obscured,
what then, under such conditions,
will our passions not do ?
They who have no reason,
it seems, must be mad,
and so it is;
but in those
of whom we are now speaking,
the evil has not gone so far,
and it would be a much less evil
if it had;
if it had;
for to be obliged
to live as a reasonable person,
and treat another as reasonable
who has no reason,
is an unendurable hardship.
Those who are altogether sick
of this malady
are to be pitied,
but they do no harm;
and, if there be any means
whereby they may be kept under control,
those means are fear.
3. How it is to be corrected. —
3. Those
in whom this evil,
which is so hurtful,
has only begun,
though it may not have gained
so much strength,
yet
as it has the same nature and source,
and
because it grows from the same root,
it must be treated in the same way
if other remedies be not sufficient;
the prioresses must
have recourse to the penances
in force in the order, and
strive to bring under subjection nuns
who thus suffer,
that they may feel they are never,
and in nothing,
to do their own will;
for if they find that
- their clamour,
and
- the despondency
into which Satan casts them
for the purpose of driving them,
if he can,
to destruction,
can at any time prevail,
they are lost,
and one sister in this state
is enough to disquiet a monastery.
As the poor soul has nothing in herself
that can help her to defend herself
against the suggestions of the evil one,
the prioress must be very watchful
in her direction of her,
not only outwardly but inwardly also,
for (the faculty of) reason,
- which in the sickly sister
is already darkened,
- ought to be the more clear
in the prioress,
in the prioress,
that the devil,
making use of this weakness,
may not bring that soul under his own power.
4. Dangers of it. —
4. The matter is dangerous;
for at times this temper is so overbearing
as to conquer reason,
and there is no sin then,
as there is none in madmen,
whatever disorders they may commit;
but it is necessary
that those sisters
who are not so overcome,
in whom reason is only weakened,
not lost altogether, and
who are good at other times,
should not,
on those occasions when they are afflicted,
begin to take any liberties,
lest they should be unable when well,
to control themselves,
to control themselves,
for the cunning of Satan is fearful.
And accordingly,
if we look into it,
we shall find that
what they are most given to
is the doing of their own will,
- saying whatever
comes into their head,
- observing the faults of others
that they may hide their own,
and
- amusing themselves with that
wherein they find pleasure;
in short,
they are like a person
without the power of self-restraint.
Then, with passions unmortified,
and everybody bent
on having their own way,
what will be the result
if there be none to control them ?
5. Need of sharp remedies. —
5. I say it again,
for I have seen,
and have had much to do with,
many persons troubled with this disease,
that there is no other remedy
but to conquer them
by every way and means in our power.
If words be not enough,
have recourse to penances,
and let them be heavy
if light penances will not do:
if one month's confinement be not enough,
let them be shut up for four;
you cannot do their souls a greater service.
For,
as I said before, and say again,
it concerns them to understand this:
though once or occasionally they may not
be able to restrain themselves,
it is not a confirmed madness,
whereby all blame is taken away;
though it may be so at times,
yet it is not so always,
and the soul is in great danger
unless, as I say,
they are so deprived of their reason
as to do or say those things
which they do or say
when they cannot help themselves.
It is of the great compassion of God
that those who are thus disordered
are obedient to their superior,
for all their good consists in that
amid the dangers I speak of.
And, for the love of God,
let her,
whoever she may be,
that reads this,
- look into it,
for it may perhaps concern her salvation.
6. Merit of endurance. —
6. I know some
who very nearly lost their senses,
but who are
so humble in spirit, and
so humble in spirit, and
so afraid of offending God,
that, though in secret
they waste away in weeping,
yet
do only what they are commanded, and
bear their infirmity like the others.
But this is a greater martyrdom,
and they will therefore have a greater glory,
and in this life
and in this life
their purgatory
that they may not have it in the next.
But I say it again that
- they
who will not do this with a willing heart
must be compelled to submit
by the prioress,
and
- they must not delude themselves
by their indiscreet devotions
in their disorderliness
so as to be a trouble to all their sisters.
It must be done,
because of another very grave evil
over and above the danger
to the weak sister herself:
for when the others see her,
to all appearance in good health,
not knowing what her soul suffers interiorly
from the violence of her disorder
— we are naturally so miserable —
they will all think themselves
subject to melancholy,
that they may be borne
with in the same way:
moreover,
Satan will make them think so,
and
the havoc he will then make
will be,
when found out,
very difficult to undo.
So important is this
that no negligence ought to be tolerated
in the matter,
and the melancholy sister,
if disobedient to the superior,
must suffer for it
as if she were in her right mind,
and
nothing must be forgiven her:
if she speaks in an unbecoming manner
to any of her sisters
she must be punished
as the others,
and
for every imperfection of the same kind.
7. Melancholy to be treated as madness. —
7. It seems unjust
to punish the sick sister,
when she cannot help herself,
as if she were well:
so does it also (seem unjust)
to bind madmen and
to correct them,
instead of leaving them free
to kill everybody.
Trust me,
for I have tried it, and
I believe have had recourse
to many remedies,
but never found any other than this.
And the prioress who, out of pity,
will have allowed these
to begin with taking liberties,
will not be able to bear with them
in the end;
and when she comes to correct them
she will find that much harm
has been done to the others.
If madmen are bound and chastised
to keep them from killing people
(and that is rightly done ; yea,
and seems a great kindness,
because they cannot help themselves),
how much more
must these sickly sisters
be looked after,
that they,
with the liberties they take,
may not do harm to the souls of others !
And I really believe
- that the mischief comes very often,
as I am saying,
from a spirit
undisciplined,
wanting in humility,
and
badly trained,
and
- that the melancholy temper
is not so strong as this.
I say it is so
in some,
for I have seen them
obey, and
control themselves in the presence
of one they fear;
Why, then,
not do as much for God ?
8. A disease. —
8. I am afraid
that Satan,
under the pretence of this temper,
seeks to gain many souls.
It is more common in our day
than it used to be;
the reason is
that all self-will and licence
are now called melancholy.
I have therefore thought
that in these houses,
and in all houses of religion,
this word should never be uttered,
because it seems to bring licence with it,
and
that the disorder it implies
should be
- called a serious illness
— and how serious it is ! —
and
- treated accordingly;
for it is very necessary at times
to correct the peccant humours
by the use of medicines
to make them tolerable;
and the sister should
- be in the infirmary, and
- be made to understand
-- that when she comes out
to join the community
she must be humble and obedient
like everybody else,
and
-- that if she is not
her melancholy shall be no defence
for her,
because that is necessary
for the reasons I have given,
and I might give more.
It is necessary
that the prioress,
but without letting them know it,
should
- treat them with great tenderness,
like a true mother, and
- search out every means she can
to cure them.
9. Remedies for it. —
9. I seem to be contradicting myself,
for I have been hitherto saying
that they are to be severely dealt with.
So I say again;
they should
- never be allowed to feel
that they may have their own way,
- neither should they have it,
it being a settled thing
that they shall be obedient,
for the evil consists in their feeling that
they can have liberty.
However, the prioress may refrain
from laying upon them a command
which she knows they will disobey;
because they are not strong enough
to do violence to themselves;
(not strong enough to discipline themselves;
Prioress not to command them to perform
what would be beyond their self-discipline)
(not strong enough to discipline themselves;
Prioress not to command them to perform
what would be beyond their self-discipline)
she should
- manage them and
- influence them by affection to do
that which is required of them,
in order, if possible,
to make them submit out of affection,
which
-- will be far better,
and
-- is generally successful
when the prioress
shows them much affection,
and
shows them much affection,
and
makes them feel it
by her acts and words.
10. Prayer of the melancholy
to be shortened. —
10. And the superiors must see
that the best remedy within their reach
is to employ them largely
in the duties of the house,
that they may have no opportunity
of giving way to their imagination,
for all the mischief is there;
and
though they may not do their work very well,
their faults must be borne with,
in order that there may be no occasion
for bearing with greater
after they shall have been ruined.
I know this to be the most complete remedy
that can be furnished them.
Means also must be found
to keep them in general
from spending too much time in prayer,
seeing that for the most part
their imagination is weak,
and that will do them much harm;
if that be not done,
they will be filled with fancies,
which neither they nor those
who may hear of them
will ever be able to understand.
11. Why the Saint dwells so much on it. —
11. Care must be taken
that they eat fish but rarely,
and it is necessary also
that they should not fast so much
as the others.
It may seem superfluous
to give
so much advice about this evil
and
and
none about any other,
when the evils of our wretched lives
are so grievous,
especially those arising
from the weakness of women.
There are two reasons for it:
the first is,
they think themselves well,
for they will not confess
that they suffer from this disorder;
and as their illness,
not being a fever,
forces them
neither to keep their bed
nor to call in the physician,
the prioress must be their physician,
for the disease is
more hurtful to perfection
than is theirs who,
in danger of their life,
remain in their beds.
12. The second reason.
12. The second reason is,
that in other illnesses
they either recover or die;
it is very rarely
that people recover from this
or die of it either,
but they lose all sense,
and that is a death
which kills all the others.
They carry about within themselves
a cruel death of sorrows, fancies,
and scruples,
and therefore merit very much thereby,
though they always call them temptations;
though they always call them temptations;
for if they were once persuaded
that all flows out of this one evil
they would be greatly relieved,
provided they made no account of it.
Deeply, indeed,
do I feel for them,
and it is right that all
who are living with them
should
- feel for them in the same way,
- feel for them in the same way,
considering that our Lord
might have visited us
with a like affliction;
and above all,
- bearing with them,
- bearing with them,
as I said just now,
without letting them know
that we are doing so.
May our Lord grant
that I have found out
what ought to be done
with so grave a malady !
Foot Notes:
[1]
It was in the year 1573,
and after August 24 of that year,
the Saint being at the time
prioress of the monastery
of the Incarnation, Avila.
________________________
[2]
"The Way of Perfection":ch. xxiv. 3.
It has been suggested that
S. Teresa wrote a special treatise
on 'Melancholy'
as she only alluded to the subject
in the "Way of Perfection";
but it is now generally admitted
that in writing the passage in the text,
her memory must have been at fault .
Blog Note:
"The interior Castle":
Mansion 6: Ch. 7; #2; Footnote
"Melancholia here as elsewhere
means hysteria".
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End of Chapter 7
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
