of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 8
Chapter 8 Contents
Treats and Gives Some Advice
Concerning Revelations And Visions
1. Timid confessors. —
2. Evil visions. —
3. The Saint's own experience. —
4. The Saint satisfied by Father Banez. —
5. Abuse of visions. —
6. How to baffle Satan. —
7. Women most liable to delusions. —
8. The Saint detects a delusion. —
9. Instance of delusion detected. —
10. Visions and revelations to be kept secret.
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1. Timid confessors. —
1.Some people seem to be alarmed
when they hear the mere word,
visions or revelations.
I know
not why they look on a soul
which God is leading on
by that way
to be in so perilous a road,
nor whence this terror comes.
I am
not now going to discuss visions,
which of them are good and
which of them are evil,
nor will I speak
of the tests for distinguishing them *
[ * See Paragraph #8 ]
which most learned men have told me of,
but only of that which it would be well
if every one did
who should find herself the subject of them,
because she will meet with few confessors
who will not make her afraid.
Certainly a confessor
who is told
of the manifold temptations of Satan,
of a spirit of blaspheming,
disorderly and unseemly thoughts,
is not
so much surprised by all this
so much surprised by all this
as he is scandalised
when told
that we have seen an angel,
or heard him speak, or
that Jesus Christ our Lord has appeared
to us on the cross.
2. Evil visions. —
2. Neither will I discuss here the tests
by which we may know
if the revelations be from God,
for that is already known
by the great blessings
they bring to the soul;
but only these images
which Satan effects
for the purpose of deceiving us
when he assumes the likeness
of Christ our Lord or
of His saints.
I am persuaded myself
that His Majesty will
- never suffer him,
- nor give him the power,
to deceive anybody by such resemblance,
unless such a person be himself to blame;
on the contrary,
Satan will but deceive himself.
I repeat it,
nobody will be deceived
if only they are humble; [1]
there is, therefore, no reason
for being downcast,
only let us
- trust in our Lord, and
- make no account of these resemblances
unless it be that we make them
an occasion of praising Him
more and more.
3. The Saint's own experience. —
3. I know of one
whose confessors troubled her exceedingly
because of these things,
which afterwards,
as far as might be known
by the great fruit and good issues of them,
were felt to be the work of God.
It was very hard for her,
when she beheld His image in a vision,
to make the sign of the cross and
treat that image with contempt;
for so she had been commanded to do. [2]
At a later time she spoke of it
to a deeply learned Dominican,
the master Fray Dominic Banez,
who told her
that it was wrong, and
that nobody ought to do that,
because it is right to venerate
the image of our Lord
wherever we may see it,
even if the devil himself
had been the painter
— and he is a great painter:
on the contrary,
he is doing us a service,
though seeking to do us a mischief,
if he paints a crucifix or an image
so life-like
as to leave an impression of it
behind in our hearts.
4. The Saint satisfied by Father Banez. —
4. This reason pleased me greatly,
for when we see a very good picture,
even though we may know it
to have been painted by a bad man,
- we do not fail to respect it, and
- we make no account of the painter,
that we may not lose our devotion;
for the good or the evil
is not
in the vision,
but
in him
- to whom it is given, and
- who does not profit by it in humility;
for if he is humble
the vision
even if it came from Satan
can do him no harm,
and if he is not humble
it will do him no good
even if it comes from God;
for if that
which should make the soul humble
— seeing
that it does not merit that grace —
makes it proud,
that soul is
- like the spider, the food of
which is all turned into poison,
and
- not like the bee,
which turns it all into honey.
5. Abuse of visions. —
5. I wish to explain myself further:
if our Lord of His goodness
is pleased to show himself to any soul,
in order that it may
- know Him and
- love Him the more,
or
- to reveal to it any of His secrets,
or
- to give it any special consolations
and graces ; and
(But) if that soul,
as I have just said, (which is)
bound to abase itself and
confess the scanty merits of its vileness,
(instead)
- looks forthwith, upon itself,
- looks forthwith, upon itself,
as a saint, and,
because of some service or other
it may have done,
- thinks that this grace has been given it,
it is plain that, like the spider,
it changes the great blessing,
which might have been the fruit
of the visions,
into something evil.
6. How to baffle Satan. —
6. Let us admit, then, for a moment,
that Satan,
for the purpose of stirring up pride,
brings about these apparitions;
yet
▪ if the soul at the time,
thinking they come from God,
- humbles itself, and
- confesses itself
undeserving of a grace so great,
and
- does violence to itself
( forces itself / disciplines itself
by way of fasts, sacrifice, etc.)
that it may serve Him better;
▪ if, when it sees itself rich,
confessing itself unworthy
to eat the crumbs
that fall from the table of those persons
of whom it has heard
that they have received these graces
from God
— I mean unworthy to be the servant
of any of them —
it humbles itself, and begins in earnest
- to do penance, and
- to give itself more unto prayer, and
- to be more careful
never to offend our Lord
— for it thinks it is He
who is the giver of this grace —
and
- to be more perfect in its obedience
then I assure it
that Satan
- will never come again,
- but will go away defeated,
- leaving behind him
no trace of evil in the soul.
If one
is told to do anything,
or
has a revelation of what is coming,
she must
- refer it all
to a learned and wise confessor, and
- do and believe nothing
but that which the confessor permits.
Let her speak to the prioress
that she may send her a prudent confessor,
and
let her take his advice;
if she does not
obey the confessor, and
allow herself to be directed by him,
it comes from
- an evil spirit
or
- a terrible melancholy.
For, supposing the confessor
were in the wrong,
she would do better
by not departing from what he tells her,
(as) though it was an angel of God
who had been speaking to her,
for our Lord will
- give him light or
- provide for the fulfilment of his word;
there is no danger in doing this,
but in doing otherwise
there may be many dangers
and much evil. [3]
7. Women most liable to delusions. —
7. It should be considered
- that natural weakness is very weak,
especially in women, [4]
and
- that it shows itself the more
in this way of prayer;
it therefore becomes necessary
that we should not at once
take it for granted
that every little fancy we may have
is a vision;
for, believe me,
the vision when true
will make itself understood.
Much greater caution is necessary
when they are subject to melancholy,
- for I have known fancies of that kind
that have frightened me;
- for people may think seriously
that they see what they do not see.
There came to me once a confessor
who had heard the confession
of a certain person
who told him
that Our Lady often
- came to her,
- sat down on her bed,
- remained talking to her
more than an hour, and
- told her things to come,
and much besides;
amid so much Folly
some things were found to be true,
and so everything else was believed.
8. The Saint detects a delusion. —
8. I saw at once what it was,
but I did not dare to speak,
because we are living in a world
wherein it is necessary to consider
what people may think of us
if our words are to have any effect.
Accordingly, I said to the confessor
- that we should wait to see
whether the prophecies were true,
- that he should
-- ask for other tests, and
-- find out what sort of a life
that person was living;
in the end it was found out
to be all foolishness.
9. Instance of delusion detected. —
9. I could say so much of these things
as would be ample for the proof
of what I am saying,
that a soul
should not believe at once,
but should
- bide its time, and
- examine itself carefully
before it makes its visions known,
lest it should,
without the wish to do so,
deceive its confessor;
for if he has had
no experience himself herein,
however learned he may be,
he will never be able to understand it.
It is not many years ago,
but very lately,
that a man disturbed exceedingly
some very learned and spiritual persons
with matters of this kind;
at last he went to speak to one
who had had experience
of these gifts of our Lord, and
who saw clearly
that it was madness with delusions.
However, the matter was not exposed
at the time,
but kept most secret;
by degrees
our Lord made it thoroughly known;
but that person
who saw into the matter
had much to suffer first,
because nobody would believe him. [5]
10. Visions and revelations
to be kept secret.
10. For these reasons,
and others of the same kind,
it is the duty of each sister
to make known to the prioress
with great openness her way of prayer, and
the latter must carefully consider
- the temper of that sister and
- the degree of perfection
to which she may have attained,
that she may instruct the confessor
so as to enable him
to understand her better; and
she should choose a confessor
for the purpose
if the ordinary confessor
is not sufficiently acquainted
with things of this kind.
She must be very careful
that matters such as
- these revelations and visions,
though most truly from God,
and
- graces confessedly miraculous,
be not divulged
to persons outside the monastery,
nor to confessors
who have not the wisdom
to keep them secret,
for this is a most serious point, and
more serious than they think,
nor may the sisters discuss them
among themselves.
The prioress, herself, must be always
- ready to listen prudently,
- more inclined, however,
to commend those
who excel in humility, mortification,
and obedience
than those whom God is leading
by this most supernatural way of prayer,
though they may be endowed
with every other virtue.
For, if it be the spirit of our Lord
that is working in them,
He brings in His train, humility
to enable them to bear neglect with joy,
and such treatment
therefore will not harm them,
and does great good to the others.
As they cannot attain
to these extraordinary graces,
for God gives them to whom He will,
let their anxiety be
for the attainment of other virtues,
for, though these also are the gift of God,
they are more in our power,
and are of great worth in religion.
May His Majesty bestow them upon us !
If we
- exercise ourselves in them,
- are diligent
-- in the pursuit of them, and
-- in prayer for them,
He will not refuse them to any one
who, in reliance on His compassion,
shall labour to attain to them.
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Foot Notes:
[1]
This sentence is in the margin,
but in S. Teresa's own hand.
___________________
[2]
It was the Saint herself,
as she tells us in
"The Life", ch. xxix. 6, and
"Interior Castle", Mansion vi: ch.ix:#11
___________________
[3]
Jerome Gratian of the Mother of God
— Lucidario, pt. 2, ch. xiii. fol. 75 —
says that he once begged the Saint
to pray for light
in a matter of very great importance.
The Saint obeyed, and
the answer was that
the thing was to be done.
'Nevertheless,' says the father,
'I did not do it,
guiding myself by my reason.
The Saint was silent and obeyed,
for she was then my subject;
but afterwards,
doubting of the correctness
of my conduct
in disregarding the revelation,
I asked her again to pray
that we might know
whether we were doing right.
The answer to me was
that our Lord had spoken to her thus:
"Thou hast done well to obey,
for in so doing none can go wrong;
what I said in the beginning
was much better,
but that
which thou hast done under obedience
I will make more fruitful,
though it may cost thee more labour."
And so it came to pass.'
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[4]
Major cautio erga feminas adhibenda,
quarum sexus eo suspectior
est quo imbecellior.
Naturae sunt humidioris,
ut ex vehementia cogitationum et affectuum
putant se videre quae cupiunt,
et quod ab animi perturbationibus nascitur,
quae in ipsis acerrimae sunt,
a veritate oriri credunt.
Cumque ratione minus polleant,
non est difficile diabolo carum nativa
imbecillitate uti, ut eas primum variis
illusionibus decipiat, et per easdem
alios in errores inducat
(Card. Bona, de Discretione Spirituum,
ch. xx. § 3).
Blog's Rough Translation:
The major caution to be observed
regarding women is that of their sex
by which it is supected
that they are weakened.
The natures of (their) humours is that
through the intensity
of the thoughts and emotions/passions
they think they see
what they desire (to see),
and
that which is born
from the disturbances of the soul
which are the most in them,
they believe arise from the truth
and when there is less enjoyment
of the faculty of reason,
it is not difficult for the devil
to make use of their native weakness,
first as various illusions deceive them , and
then by the same means,
he induces others into errors
(Cardinal Bona, "Of Discernment of Spirits",
ch. xx. § 3).
______________________
[5]
Isabel of S. Dominic
relates in her deposition
for the process of beatification
that in 1565 a farmer,
supposed to be moved by the spirit of God,
caused a good deal of disturbance
in the neighbourhood of Avila.
He was brought to the convent of S. Joseph
and had a conversation with S. Teresa
who was by no means convinced
of the reality of his supernatural experiences.
Soon after he was convicted
of superstitious practices and punished
by the ecclesiastical authority.
Ouvres, iii. 140.
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End of Chapter 8
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
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