The Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
Discussion of Chapter 10
Chapter 10 Contents
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.
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█ Summary
▪ The Story of the Foundation, Valladolid
▪ Our Lord is pleased by service to His Mother
▪ The Providence of God
▪ The Virtues of Poverty in Spirit, Detachment, and
her Recommendations to parents in this regard
▀ The Story of the Foundation, Valladolid
▪ The Monastery at Valladolid
had its beginnings
"Four or five months
before the foundation
of the Monastery of S. Joseph in Malagon"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #1 ]
"Don Bernardino de Mcndoza,
brother of the Bishop of Avila"
offered his house in Valladollid
to St. Teresa for a monastery.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #1: Footnote #1 ]
▪ Similar to the experience
at Medina del Campo
the building was found to be in poor condition,
but the foundation was established despite this.
St. Teresa persevered in the establishment
of this monastery because:
◦ Don Bernardino de Mcndoza,
"made the offer so generously,
(so) I was unwilling
- to refuse it or
- to trouble his devotion.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #1 ]
◦ She was concerned for the soul
of Don Bernardino:
Then, Don Bernardino de Mcndoza,
who donated the property
had died soon thereafter.
Our Lord had told her that
"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,
I...made all the haste I could
to found, as well as I could,
the house in Valladolid."
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #2 ]
◦ It was of establishing the Discalced Carmelites
in that city:
"I thought, however,
we might make our way into the city
if once we had possession of that place".
▪ St. Teresa descrbed some of the problems:
◦ "it could not fail to be unwholesome,
for it was close to the river".
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #3 ]
◦ "I saw how foolish it would be
for nuns to remain there,
except at a very great cost"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #3 ]
◦ "I sent for workmen...
began to have the ruined walls
filled up with clay
to secure our privacy,
and to do whatever else was necessary.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #4 ]
◦ "it was a quarter of a league
from the city"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #1 ]
(approximately 9/10 mile)
"the entrance of the city...so far away"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #3 ]
It was far from populated or frequented areas
and so would have been vulnerable to crime.
This was in opposition to the regulations
specified by the
Council of Trent: Session 25: Chapter 3
Topic: "Concerning Regulars And Nuns")
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #1: & Footnote #2]
◦ "because it was a long way
to send alms to us"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #6 ]
◦ "because the place was unhealthy"
"We remained there
but a short time,
for nearly all of us fell very ill.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #6 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
■ The Founding of the original Monastery
of Valladolid:
"On the feast of the Assumption
of our Lady, August 15, 1568,
we took possession of the monastery."
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #6 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
■ The Benefactors of the Monastery of Valladolid
were the brother and sister of
Don Alvaro de Mendoza.
who was the Bishop of the diocese in Avila and
who had helped her when she was establishing
her first foundation there.
In paragraph #6, St. Teresa
speaks of Dona Maria de Mendoza,
"A lady, there living, observed...(their difficulties)
... she is the sister of the Bishop of Avila".
...she told us to give up that house,
that she would find us another;
and so she did,
...besides, she supplied
all that was needful for us
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #6 ]
Since it was
"Don Bernardino de Mcndoza,
brother of the Bishop of Avila"
who offered his house in Valladollid
to St. Teresa for a monastery,
[See Foundations: Ch. 10: #1: Footnote #1]
it seems it was his own sister,
Dona Maria de Mendoza
...the sister of the Bishop of Avila
who saw the difficulties with her brother's house
and later, donated a second house
which would become the new monastery.
"and the one she gave us
was worth much more"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #6 ]
■ The new Monastery of Valladolid
"The nuns remove to the new house,
3rd February 1569"
"On the feast of S. Blasius
we went to our new house"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #7 ]
And like the other foundations,
the Monastery of Vallodolid
brought great glory to God:
"for our Lord
- works many graces in the house,
and
- has brought souls into it...
to the praise of our Lord,
Who by means of them
was pleased
to magnify His works, and
to show mercy to His creatures".
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #7 ]
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▀ The Providence of God
"I had some confidence
that our Lord...
would come to our help"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #4 ]
The account of the Monastery of Valladolid
reveals the Providence of God
throughout by its many events:
◦ The donation of the property at Valladolid
by Don Bernardino de Mcndoza
who was the brother
of Don Alvaro de Mendoza
the Bishop of Avila
who had assisted St. Teresa
in the past.
◦ God's mercy
to Don Bernardino de Mcndoza
" that he was in the way of salvation"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #5 ]
◦ Resolution of the problems of
the poor condition and location
of the original monastery site.
Dona Maria de Mendoza
whose brother was also the Bishop of Avila
offered them
assistance, supplies, and shelter:
"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
[Foundations: Ch10: Footnote #10]
◦ The donation of a more suitable house
by Dona Maria de Mendoza.
◦ The Lord worked "many graces"
in that monastery
and brought many nuns
who strived for holiness.
"for our Lord
works many graces in the house, and
has brought souls into it
whose sanctity shall be recorded"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #7 ]
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▀ Our Lord is greatly pleased
by services done for His Mother
"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".
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #6 ]
Of Don Bernardino de Mcndoza,
St. Teresa said:
The Lord "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"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #2 ]
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▀ The Virtues of Poverty in Spirit, Detachment,
and
her Recommendations to parents in this regard
St. Teresa speaks
of the temporality of earthly goods
and the permanence of spiritual goods.
She decries the deference
given to riches, heirdom and inheritance
in her day,
while the "narrow gate" to God is disregarded.
"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".
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #11 ]
"O ye of noble birth,
open your eyes for the love of God"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #11 ]
"everything
of which there is to be an end...
is
- perishing, and
- deserves but scanty consideration.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #9]
■ The Virtue of Poverty in Spirit
St. Teresa speaks of the poverty of Christ:
"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"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #11 ]
"Ah, my God,
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.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #11 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
■ The Virtue of Detachment
St. Teresa described the detachment
of Dona Maria de Acuna
and her sons and daughters:
- "who showed us
what the world is
by despising it"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #7 ]
- "the son began to understand
what the world is"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #8 ]
- "the desire of giving up all things
grew within her.
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #14 ]
- "she made up her mind
to give (her affections)
wholly unto God"
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #15 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
■ Her Recommendations to parents
in regard to Poverty in Spirit and Detachment:
• St. Teresa said it was a great blessing
to have parents
who so truly love their children
that they wish and strive
- for their permanent happiness with God
- not for their earthly possessions and status
"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 the preservation of that which...
must come to an end !"
• St. Teresa spoke also of parents
who might hinder their child's vocation
because of temporal matters:
"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
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"
• She prays that God guide parents regarding:
◦ how to truly love their children
as to guide them to God
◦ the true worth of all things:
"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.."
[ Foundations: Ch. 10: #9 ]
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End of the Discussion
of Chapter 10
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
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