of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 19 XIX
Chapter 19 Contents
Continuation Of The Foundation
Of The Monastery
Of S. Joseph
In The City Of Salamanca
1. The Saint recommends
learned confessors. —
2. Nicholas Gutierrez. —
3. The Saint takes possession. —
4. Poverty of the house at first. —
5. Terrors of Sister Mary. —
6. The house is not healthy. —
7. The Saint returns to Salamanca
in August 1573. —
8. And takes possession
of the new monastery. —
9. Troubles with the owner
of the house. —
10. Who cannot come to any terms.
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CHAPTER 19
1. The Saint recommends
learned confessors.
1.
I have wandered far away
from the subject,
for, whenever anything occurs to me
which it pleased our Lord
I should learn by experience,
it is distressing not to speak of it;
it may be that it will do good,
as I think it will.
Do you, my daughters,
go always for direction
to learned men,
for thereby shall you find
the way of perfection
in discretion and truth.
It is very necessary for prioresses,
if they would execute their office well,
to have learned men for their confessors
— if not
they will do many foolish things,
thinking them to be saintly;
and, moreover,
they must contrive
they must contrive
that their nuns
go to confession to learned men.
2. Nicholas Gutierrez.
2.
About noon, then,
on the eve of All Saints,
in the year already mentioned,
we came to Salamanca. [1]
From my lodging
I sent for a good man living there,
whom I had trusted with the work
of getting the house emptied for us.
His name is Nicholas Gutierrez, [2]
a great servant of God,
who by his good life had obtained
from His Majesty
peace and contentment
amid his heavy trials
— and they were many,
for he was once very prosperous,
but was at this time in great poverty,
which he bore as joyfully
as he had borne his prosperity.
He laboured much
with great devotion and goodwill
in the making of this foundation.
When he came he told me
that the house was not yet empty,
for he had not been able
to persuade the students to go out. [3]
I told him
how much it concerned me
to have possession of it at once,
before it was known
that I was in the town ;
for I was always afraid of some disturbance,
as I said before. [4]
He went to the owner of the house,
and took so much trouble in the matter
that the house was left empty
in the evening.
We went in when it was nearly dark.
3. The Saint takes possession.
3.
This was the first foundation I made
without the presence
of the Most Holy Sacrament,
for I did not think that I took possession
if He was not lodged in the house.
I had now learnt
that it made no difference,
which was a great comfort to me,
because the students had left the house
in a very unseemly state,
and, as they had
but little regard for cleanliness,
the whole place was
in such a condition
that we had no slight work
to do that night,
4. Poverty of the house at first.
4.
Early the next morning
mass was said there for the first time,
and I sent for more nuns, [5]
who were to come
from Medina del Campo.
My companion and I were alone
the night of All Souls.
I have to tell you one thing, my sisters,
at which I am ready to laugh
when I remember it
— the fears of my companion,
Mary of the Blessed Sacrament,
a nun older than myself, and
a great servant of God.
The house was very large and rambling,
with many garrets,
and my companion could not
get the students out of her thoughts, thinking that,
as they were so annoyed
at having to quit the house,
some ot them might be still hiding in it:
they could very easily do so,
for there was room enough.
We shut ourselves up in a room
wherein the straw was placed,
that being the first thing I provided
for the founding of the house,
for with the straw
we could not fail to have a bed.
That night we slept on it,
covered by two blankets
that had been lent us. [6]
The next day the nuns
who lived close by, and
who, we thought,
were not at all pleased with us,
- lent us blankets for our sisters
that were to come, and
- sent us alms.
It was the monastery of S. Elizabeth,
and all the time
(that) we remained in that house
they rendered us many kind services
and gave us alms. [7]
5. Terrors of Sister Mary.
5.
When my companion saw herself
shut up in the room
she seemed somewhat at her ease
about the students,
though she did nothing
but look about her,
first on this side
and then on the other;
still she was afraid,
and Satan must have helped her
to imagine dangers
for the purpose of troubling me,
for, owing to the weakness of the heart
from which I suffer,
very little is enough to do it.
I asked her
why she was looking about,
seeing that nobody could possibly come in.
She replied,
'Mother, I am thinking,
if I were to die now,
what you would do alone.'
I thought it would be
a very disagreeable thing if it happened.
It made me dwell on it
for a moment,
and even to be afraid,
for, though I am not afraid of dead bodies,
they always cause
a certain faintness of the heart
even when I am not alone.
And as the bells were tolling
— it was, as I said before,
the eve of All Souls —
the devil took advantage of that
to make us
waste our thoughts upon trifles;
when he sees
we are not afraid of him
he searches for other means.
I answered her,
'Sister, when that shall happen
I will consider what I shall do;
now let me go to sleep.'
As we had spent two nights without rest,
sleep soon put an end to our fears.
More nuns came on the following day,
and then all our terrors were over.
6. The house is not healthy.
6.
The community remained
in the same house about three years
— I am not sure it was not four —
almost unheeded.
But I was ordered to go
to the monastery
of the Incarnation in Avila, [8]
for of my own will
I would never leave a house,
nor did I leave any,
till it was properly ordered and arranged,
for herein
God has been very gracious unto me:
it is a joy to me
to be the foremost in trouble,
and I used to provide,
even to the minutest matters,
whatever might be
of use and comfort to the nuns,
as if I had to live in that house all my life,
and accordingly I was glad
when the sisters were happily settled.
I was very sorry
for the sufferings of the nuns here
— not, however, arising
from the want of food,
for the house
being very much out of the way,
and therefore not likely
to receive much alms,
I took, care to provide for it
from the place where I was staying,
but from its unhealthiness,
it being damp and excessively cold,
and that could not be helped
because of its great size.
But the worst of all
was the absence
of the Most Holy Sacrament,
which in a house so strictly enclosed
was a serious privation.
They did not take it too much to heart,
but bore it all so contentedly
that I cannot but praise our Lord for it;
and some of them told me
that they
- considered it an imperfection
to wish for another house,
and
- would have been well pleased
to remain there
if they could have had
the Most Holy Sacrament,
7. The Saint returns to Salamanca
in August 1573.
7.
Afterwards the superior, [9]
seeing
their perfection and
the troubles they had to bear,
had compassion on them,
and
sent for me from the monastery
of the Incarnation. [10]
They had already arranged
with a nobleman [11]
to take a house of him,
but it was in such a state
as to make it necessary to spend
more than a thousand ducats on it
before they could go into it:
the house was an entail,
and the owner agreed
that we might
enter into possession of it,
and also
raise the walls,
thouogh the king's licence was not had.
I got Father Julian of Avila
to accompany me
— he it is
whom I have spoken of
as going with me
in these foundations —
he went with me,
and we looked at the house
that we might be able to say
what should be done to it,
for experience has taught me much
in these matters.
We set out In August [12]
and though we made all possible haste,
we were delayed till Michaelmas,
which is the time of letting houses there:
our house was far from being finished,
and that in which we were then living,
as we had not hired it for another year,
had already found a tenant,
and he was hurrying us out of it.
The white-washing of the church
was nearly done.
The nobleman
who had sold us the house
was away:
some people
who wished us well
said we had done wrong
in going in so soon;
but where necessity drives,
good advice is ill received
if no help is given with it. [13]
8. And takes possession
of the new monastery. —
8.
We went in on the vigil of S. Michael,
a little before dawn.
It had been already made known
- that on the feast of S. Michael,
the Most Holy Sacrament
was to take up His dwelling there,
and
- that a sermon was to be preached.
It was our Lord's pleasure
that on the eve of our going in
so heavy a rain should fall
as to make it difficult to take
what was most necessary for us
into the house.
The chapel was newly built,
but the roof was so badly made
that the rain came
through the greater part of it.
I tell you, my daughters,
that I found I was very imperfect that day.
As notice had been given,
I knew not what to do;
I did nothing but bewail myself,
and so, as if complaining,
I said to our Lord
that He must
either not bid me to apply myself
to these foundations
or relieve us in our present necessity.
The good man Nicholas Gutierrez,
with his usual calmness,
as if nothing was amiss,
told me very gently not to distress myself
— God would send help.
So He did,
for on the feast of S. Michael,
when it was time for the people to come,
the sun began to shine
— which stirred up
my devotion exceedingly —
and I saw
how much better
that holy man had done
by trusting in God
than I had done with all my labour. [14]
9. Troubles with the owner
of the house. —
9.
Many people came,
and we had music,
and the Most Holy Sacrament
was brought in with great solemnity.
As the house was in a good position,
it began to
be known
and
regarded with respect;
the countess of Monterey [15]
Dona Maria Pimentel, in particular,
and a lady, Dona Mariana,
the wife of the governor,
were very kind to us.
Immediately afterwards, on the next day,
to moderate our joy
in the possession
of the Most Holy Sacrament,
came the nobleman,
the owner of the house,
so exceedingly out of temper
that I did not know
what to do with him,
and Satan urged him so
that he would not listen to reason:
we, however, had fulfilled
our bargain with him,
but it was useless to tell him so.
He softened a little
when some people spoke to him,
but he afterwards changed his mind.
I now resolved to give up the house;
that did not please Him,
because he wanted to have
the price of it at once.
His wife
— the house belonged to her —
had wished to sell it,
that she might dower her two daughters;
and it was on that ground
(that) the licence for alienation was sought,
the money being deposited
in the hands of a person chosen by him.
10. Who cannot come to any terms.
10.
It is now three years
since this affair was begun,
and the purchase is not yet made,
and I do not know
whether the monastery will remain here
— I mean in this house —
that is why I speak of it
— or where it shall be settled. [16]
What I do know is this—
in none of the monasteries
of the primitive rule
which our Lord has hitherto founded
have the nuns had so much to suffer
as in this.
They are so good that,
by the mercy of God,
they bear it all with joy.
May it please His Majesty
that they may grow still better !
for it is of little consequence
whether the house we have
is good or bad:
on the contrary,
it is a great pleasure to us
to find ourselves in a house
out of which we may be driven
at any time,
remembering
that the Lord of the world had none. [17]
It has been often our lot,
as may be seen
in the history of these foundations,
to live in a house that is, or was,
not our own,
and the truth is
that I have never seen one of the nuns
distressed about it.
May it please His Divine Majesty,
of His infinite goodness and mercy,
that we fail not
to reach the everlasting dwelling-places !
Amen,
amen.
_________________
Foot Notes:
[1]
In the year 1570.
See Foundations: ch. xviii. 3.
_______________________
[2]
His six daughters
by Ana de la Fuente, his wife,
became nuns at the Incarnation
and afterwards Teresians.
[ Ouevres, iii. 250-2. ]
_______________________
[3]
One of these students was
Don Juan Moriz,
afterwards Bishop of Barbastro
[De la Fuente].
The house is situated on
the Plaza de Santa Teresa
and belongs now to a religious community
called Servants of S. Joseph
for the education of poor girls.
The room where S. Teresa slept
is at present a chapel.
There also took place the event
described in Rel. IV. I,
and Interior Caste, vi M. ch. xi. 6.
_________________________
[4]
See Foundations: ch. xviii. 2.
_________________________
[5]
Anne of the Incarnation,
Mary of Christ,
Jeronyma of Jesus
came from Medina;
from Avila came
Anne of Jesus and
Juana of Jesus,
and from Toledo
Mary of S. Francis, novice.
Anne of the Incarnation
was made prioress, and
Mary of Christ, sub-prioress
[ Ribera, ii. 16 ].
________________________
[6]
By the fathers of the Society of Jesus
[Ribera, ii. 16).
________________________
[7]
The nuns sent food to the Saint
the very day she came,
and continued to do so
[ Tepcs, ii. 23 ].
They were nuns of the third order
of S. Francis,
and the house was suppressed in 1857.
________________________
[8]
After making the foundation
in Alba de Tormes,
in January 1571,
the Saint returned to Salamanca,
where she was still at the end of March.
From Salamanca she went
to Medina del Campo,
where the nuns were in trouble
because the family
of Isabel of the Angels,
one of the novices,
young and wealthy,
made objections to her disposal
of her property.
Fray Angel de Salazar,
provincial of Carmel,
was on the side of the family
against the monastery,
and the Saint on the other;
the provincial
thereupon forgot himself
being also vexed
because the Saint and the nuns
made Agnes of Jesus prioress,
whereas he had wished
Dona Teresa de Quesada,
who was a nun of the old observance,
to be the superior of the community,
and, under pain of excommunication,
ordered the Saint and the prioress
to quit the house before night.
The Saint, though very ill, obeyed,
and the provincial made
Dona Teresa, prioress,
who had never accepted the Reform.
The Saint went to Avila,
and was there visited
by Fray Pedro Fernandez, Dominican,
lately made visitor of Carmel in Castille
by Pope S. Pius V.
He wished to see her
because he had heard so much about her
from Fray Dominic Banez.
The visitor sent her back
from Avila to Medina,
where the monastery was in disorder
— Dona Teresa having left
and returned to her own house
of the Incarnation in Avila —
and followed her thither
soon after himself.
Having visited that house,
S. Teresa being prioress,
he returned to Avila,
and visited that of the Incarnation,
which was in a sad state
spiritually and temporally.
After consultation with the provincial
and the definitors of Carmel
he made S. Teresa prioress
of her old home, the Incarnation,
she being at the time prioress in Medina.
The Saint was most unwilling
to accept the office
(which seems to have been
laid upon her early in July,
according to her account
in Relation iii # 11 )
nevertheless, she entered on it,
and was duly installed by the visitor,
the nuns being most unwilling
to receive her
(in October 1571,
as appears from ch. xxi. 8).
Before she entered on her duties
she formally renounced,
in the house of S. Joseph, Avila,
the mitigated observance,
and made profession of the strict rule,
the observance of which
she was labouring to restore.
When she had taken possession
of the priorate
she begged the visitor
to give her two confessors
of the Reform for the house,
and Fray Pedro sent
S. John of the Cross and
Fray German of S. Mathias
[ Ribera iii. I ] ;
[ Yepes, ii. 25 ] ;
[ Reforms, bk. ii. ch. xlviii, xlix ;
bk. iv. ch . xxvii. #2 ].
__________________________
[9]
Fray Pedro Fernandez,
Dominican,
and Apostolic visitor
of the Carmelite province of Castille.
See Foundations: ch. xxi. i.
________________________
[10]
It was Anne of Jesus
who obtained permission
from the visitor
for the Saint to leave
the monastery of the Incarnation,
where she had been prioress
for the last two years nearly
[ Reforma, bk. 11. ch. xx. 1 ].
The journey took place at the instigation
of Dona Maria Enriquez,
duchess of Alba.
________________________
[11]
Pedro de la Vanda,
caballero calificado,
aunque no muy rico
y de condicion indigesta
[ Reforma, bk. iii. ch. xx. #1 ].
Blog's rough transation:
eminent gentleman
athough not very rich
and with an indigestion condition
(suffering from indigestion)
_______________
[12]
The journey was made
for the most part by night,
because of the great heat;
and Fray Antonio of Jesus
and Julian of Avila
accompanied the Saint,
who had with her
Dona Quiteria de Avila,
a nun of the Incarnation
[ Ribera, ii. 16 ].
__________________________
[13]
The royal licence
for the alienation of the house
was obtained,
but in August 1573,
the Saint had not been able to settle
with Pedro de la Vanda.
She complains of him again
in a letter of January 1574
addressed to Father Dominic Banez.
_________________________
[14]
This incident is told
somewhat differently
in "The Life of Ven. Anne of Jesus".
The translation was fixed
on the feast of S. Michael,
Fray Diego de Estella, Franciscan,
a celebrated preacher,
having been engaged
and an immense number of people
looking forward to the ceremony,
when, on the eve,
torrential rains burst over the town;
the chapel was far from finished,
the roof having been made so badly
that there were holes
through which the rain entered
flooding the whole sanctuary.
It was eight o'clock in the evening;
S. Teresa was engaged in the porch
with Father Julian Davila
and the chaplain of the convent of Alba,
the Licentiate Nieto.
In her heart she said to our Lord:
'My adorable master,
either do not command me
such undertakings,
or come to our help
in our present need.'
The workmen, too, were deliberating
as to the course to be taken
for it was clearly out of question
to continue the work.
At this moment, Ven. Anne,
with two other nuns,
approached the Saint
and said in a decided tone:
' Your Reverence knows
what time it is,
and
how many people are coming to-morrow
could you not ask God to stop this rain
so that we may prepare the altars ? '
Saint Teresa replied in the same tone:
'Ask Him yourself
if you think He would do it so speedily
at my request.'
Seeing she was annoyed
Anne withdrew
but had hardly reached the courtyard
when, looking up,
she saw the sky so clear and bright
as if it had never been raining.
She at once returned and
said
to the Saint
before the same witnesses:
'Your Reverence might very well
have asked this favour a little sooner ' ;
and,
to the visitors:
'Leave us alone
that we may get the chapel ready.'
Saint Teresa looked at her smilingly
and went to her room.
[ P. Bertholde-Ignace de Sainte Anne,
Vie de la Mere Anne de Jesus,
The Life of Mother Anne of Jesus
(Mechlin, 1876), 1. 104. ]
[ Oeuvres, iii. 561. ]
________________________
[15]
Within two months of the foundation
of the house in Salamanca
the Saint was called
to establish another in Alba,
as recorded in the next chapter.
In February or March, 1571,
she returned to Salamanca
to console her sisters
who were in distress.
The count and countess of Monterey
had obtained permission
of her superiors,
if she came to Salamanca,
to have her in their house.
She was therefore lodged with them,
and while there
two miracles were wrought by her;
the first was the cure
of Dona Maria de Artiega,
whose husband had the care
of the count's children;
and the other was
the restoration to health
of the count's little daughter,
whose life was despaired of.
They begged the Saint to pray,
and she, withdrawing to her own room,
prayed for the child.
S. Catherine of Siena and S. Dominic
appeared to her, and told her
the child's life was granted
to her prayers,
and that it was to wear the habit
of S. Dominic for a year.
The Saint made the vision known
to Fray Banez,
who communicated it
to the father and mother.
The child was clothed
in the habit of S. Dominic
and wore it for a year.
She was afterwards married
to the count of Olivares,
and was the mother of the duke
of San Lucas.
[ Reforma, bk. ii. ch. xlviii. 2 ].
_________________________________
[16]
After the death of the Saint,
the nuns were obliged
to leave the house
owing to the difficult temper
of Don Pedro.
After a short sojourn in another house
they retired to
the hospice of the Rosary,
close to the Dominican Convent
of San Esteban,
[ Yepes, ii. 23].
They left it in the year 1614,
and settled outside the Villamayor Gate
[ Reforma, bk. iii. ch. xxiii. 3 ].
The house was almost ruined
by the Portuguese
during the war of succession,
but was rebuilt
and still serves as a convent.
__________________________
[17]
S. Luke ix. 58.
Filius autem hominis non habet
ubi caput reclinet.
Luke 9:58.
Jesus said to him:
The foxes have holes,
and the birds of the air nests;
but the Son of man hath not
where to lay his head.
|
End of Chapter 19
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
