of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 25 XXV
Chapter 25 Contents
- The Foundation Of
The Glorious S. Joseph
Of Seville Continued.
- What Happened When Getting A House
Of Our Own
1. Troubles and discouragements. —
2. Abandonment of the Saint. —
3. Her brother returns from the Indies. —
4. Difficulties in finding a good house. —
5. A house found. —
6. Difficulties of taking possession. —
7. The Saint takes possession
of the new house. —
8. Troubles of Don Lorenzo. —
9. The church arranged. —
10. Preparations for the opening. —
11. Solemnities of the opening —
12. A miracle.
|
CHAPTER 25
1. Troubles and discouragements.
1.
No one would suppose that
in a city so rich as Seville,
and
among a people so wealthy,
I should have had less help
in making a foundation
than in any other place
wherein I had been. [1]
wherein I had been. [1]
They did so little for me
that I sometimes thought
it would not be well for us
to have a monastery there.
I do not know
whether it be that part of the earth
where I have heard people say
the devils,
by the permission of God,
have more power to tempt us. [2]
They pressed hard upon me,
for never in any other place
was I so weak and cowardly.
Certainly I did not know myself,
though I did not lose my ordinary trust
in our Lord.
I was, however, so different
from what I usually am
ever since I began these foundations,
that I felt our Lord was in some measure
withdrawing His hand,
that He might abide in Himself,
and
that I might see that any courage
I had before
was not mine.
2. Abandonment of the Saint.
2.
I remained there
from the time already mentioned
till a little before Lent, [3]
I never thought of buying a house,
and I had not the means of doing so,
neither was there any one
who would be surety for us.
As for those
who had spoken so much
to the father, the apostolic visitor,
about entering the order,
and
who had asked him
to bring the nuns to Seville,
they must have seen later
that our life was too austere,
and
that they could not bear it.
One (nun) only came to us,
of whom I shall speak later. [4]
And now the time was come
to order me to leave Andalucia,
for other matters were now pressing here. [5]
It was a very great grief to me
to leave the nuns
without a house of their own,
though I saw
that I was of no use whatsoever there,
for that grace
which God gives me here [6]
of finding some one
to help us in our work
God did not give me there.
( in Seville )
( in Seville )
3. Her brother returns from the Indies.
3.
It pleased God that a brother of mine,
Lorenzo de Cepeda [7]
arrived at this time from the Indies
where he had been living
for more than thirty-four years.
He took it more to heart than I did
that the nuns had no house
of their own,
and helped us much,
especially in finding for us
the house wherein they dwell now.
I, too, was then much more urgent
in my prayers to our Lord,
begging Him not to let me leave them
without a house,
and I made the sisters pray to Him
for the same object,
and to the glorious S. Joseph;
we had many processions
and made many prayers to our Lady.
Relying on these, and
seeing my brother bent on helping us,
I began to treat
about the purchase of certain houses,
and,
though the matter
seemed to be arranged,
yet all came to nothing.
4. Difficulties in finding a good house.
4.
When I was in prayer one day,
beseeching God to give them a house,
seeing that
they were His brides
and were so anxious to please Him,
He said to me,
'I have heard you; let me be.'
I was very glad,
considering the house already gained,
so it was
— His Majesty saved us from buying one
with which everybody was pleased
because the site was good;
and it was so old
and in so ruinous a state
that we were buying
merely the site,
and
that for a little less
than the house we are in cost us.
When the matter was settled,
and nothing remained
but the drawing up of the deeds,
I was not at all satisfied;
it seemed to me
that the last word I had heard in prayer
was not fulfilled in that house,
for that word, as I understood it,
meant that God would give us
a good house;
and it was His pleasure to do so,
for the very person
who had sold the house,
notwithstanding his great gain thereby,
made difficulties about the deeds
when the time for signing them had come.
We were, therefore,
free to abandon our bargain
without any fault on our part;
and it was a great grace of our Lord to us,
for those
who might have had to live in it
would never in all their life
have finished the repairs it needed;
it would have been a great trouble to them,
and their means were scanty,
5. A house found.
5.
We had much help herein
from a servant of God,
who almost from the day of our arrival,
when he knew
that we had no one to say Mass,
came every day to say it,
though his house was far away,
and the heat excessive.
He was Garci Alvarez, [8]
a very good man,
and respected in the city for his good deeds,
and to which alone
and to which alone
he was always devoted,
and if he had been wealthy
we should never have been in want.
As he knew the house well,
he thought it very foolish
to give so much for it,
told us so every day,
and wanted us to speak about it no more.
He and my brother went to see
that wherein the sisters are now living,
and returned so pleased with it
— and justly so,
for our Lord meant it for us —
that in two or three days
the deeds were drawn up.
6. Difficulties of taking possession.
6.
We had some trouble in moving into it,
for
- they who were then living in it,
would not go out,
and
- the Franciscan friars,
who lived close by,
came at once to beg of us
not to go in on any account.
If the deeds had not been
drawn up and signed
I might have thanked our Lord
to have the contract set aside,
for we were in danger
of paying 6000 ducats,
the price of the house,
without being able to take possession.
Not so did the prioress look on it; [9]
she thanked God
the bargain could not be broken [10]
for His Majesty
gave her more faith and courage
than to me
in all that related to that house,
and she must have greater courage
than I have in everything,
for she is much better than I am.
We were in this trouble
for more than a month;
then it pleased God
that we should remove,
the prioress and myself
with the two other nuns;
we did so by night,
and in great fear,
that the friars might know nothing about it
before we took possession;
they who went with us said
that they thought (in) every shadow
they saw was a friar.
7. The Saint takes possession
of the new house.
7.
Early in the morning
the good Garci Alvarez,
who came with us,
said the first mass, [11]
and we had no fear now.
O Jesus, what fears I have had
when taking possession !
If when doing no evil, but serving God,
such fears are felt,
what must it be with those persons
who go about doing evil
against God and their neighbour ?
I know not what gain they can have,
or what pleasure they can seek,
with such odds against them.
8. Troubles of Don Lorenzo.
8.
My brother was not here then,
for he had taken sanctuary
on account of a certain mistake
made in the deed, [12]
which was drawn up in a hurry,
— a mistake that involved a great loss
to the monastery —
and as my brother was our security
they wished to take him to prison.
As he was a stranger
his imprisonment would have distressed us,
and as it was
we were in trouble,
for until he assigned some of his property
as security
there was trouble enough.
Later on
the matter was arranged satisfactorily,
though, to give us more trouble,
though, to give us more trouble,
we did not escape litigation for a time.
We shut ourselves up
in certain rooms on the ground floor,
and my brother was there all day
among the workmen,
and supplied us with food,
and indeed had done so
for many days before,
for, as everybody did not know
of the monastery,
because it was a private house,
we received but scanty alms
except from the Prior
of the Carthusians of Las Cuevas,
a great servant of God.
He was a native of Avila,
and of the Pantoja family. [13]
God inspired him
with such great affection for us
from the time we came here,
and I believe it will last,
so that he will help us
to the end of his life.
It is only reasonable, therefore, my sisters,
if you should read this,
that you should pray to God
for one who has done so much for us,
and for others also,
whether he be living or dead.
I write this for that end:
to this holy man we owe much.
9. The church arranged.
9.
We were thus occupied
for more than a month
— so I believe,
but my memory is so bad
in reckoning time,
and so I might be wrong;
more or less must always be understood
when I speak of days,
and it does not matter much.
My brother was very busy
during this month
in converting certain rooms into a church,
and in furnishing it throughout,
so that none of the labour fell upon us. [14]
10. Preparations for the opening.
10.
When it was finished
I wished to have the Most Holy Sacrament
reserved without noise
— for I very much dislike giving trouble
when it can be helped —
and said so to the father Garci Alvarez.
He spoke about it to the Father Prior
of Las Cuevas,
and they considered our affairs
as if they were their own.
Their opinion was
that it could not be done as I wished,
for if the monastery was to be known
in Seville
the Most Holy must be solemnly reserved,
and they went to the archbishop.
It was settled among them all
that the Most Holy Sacrament
should be brought with great solemnity
from one of the parish churches.
The archbishop ordered the clergy
and certain confraternities
to join the procession,
and the streets to be decorated.
11. Solemnities of the opening
11.
The good Garci Alvarez adorned
- our cloister,
which I have said served us then
for a passage,
and
- the church
with the utmost care.
with the utmost care.
He prepared handsome altars
and arranged many devices.
Among these was
a fountain of orange-flower water,
which we had
neither wished for
nor had anything to do with;
it was afterwards a great joy to us.
It was a comfort to us to witness
such solemn preparations for our feast,
so much decoration of the streets,
the music, and the minstrelsy.
The holy Prior of Las Cuevas told me
- that he had never seen anything like it
in Seville, and
- that he looked on it all
as being visibly the work of God:
he was in the procession himself,
which was an unusual act on his part.
The archbishop carried
the Most Holy Sacrament. [15]
You see here, my children,
the poor Carmelites honoured of all, [16]
who shortly before seemed
as if they could not get a drop of water,
though there was plenty in the river.
The people came in crowds.
12. A miracle
12.
A strange thing happened,
according to the account
of those who saw it.
After many salvoes of artillery
and rockets discharged,
when the procession was over
and night was coming on,
the people wished to have more,
when some powder,
I know not how,
took fire ;
and it was a great marvel to all
that he who had it
was not killed.
A huge flame rushed upwards
to the top of the cloisters,
the ceiling of which was covered
with silk hangings,
which everybody expected to see
burnt to ashes ;
but it was not damaged
in the slightest degree,
though made of purple and gold.
But what I am going to say is astonishing:
the stonework of the cloisters close
under the silk
was black with smoke,
while the silk above
remained unsoiled
remained unsoiled
as if the fire had never reached it.
Everybody was amazed at the sight.
The nuns gave thanks to our Lord,
for they could never have paid
for the hangings.
Satan must have been so vexed
at the solemnity which had been kept,
and
at the sight of another house of God,
that he would have his revenge somehow,
and His Majesty would not let him.
May He be blessed for ever and ever !
Amen.
Foot Notes:
[1]
The nuns lived
in the most extreme poverty,
sleeping on the floor;
and the dishes for their table,
- lent by their neighbours
for the first day,
- were sent for on the next and
returned.
In a few days a charitable lady,
Dona Leonor de Valera,
heard of their distress,
and
gave alms secretly to a good woman,
whose devotion it was
to succour the needy.
But the poor Carmelites
were hardly the better
for the charity of Dona Leonor,
though intended for them alone,
because the good woman
who was to carry it to them
took it into her head
that they were not in great want,
and divided the alms among others
(Reforma, hk. iii. ch. xxxvii. 5).
_________________________
[2]
Another Reference to the difficulties
experienced by the foundation in Seville
at that time.
_____________________
[3]
Ash Wednesday fell on
7th March in 1576,
and
the Saint had arrived in Seville
on Thursday, 26th May 1575.
See ch. xxiv. 9.
___________________
[4]
See ch. xxvi. 3.
___________________
[5]
The Saint had now been ordered
by the provincial to
leave Seville
and
take up her residence
in some other monastery,
the choice of which was, however,
left to her.
___________________
[6]
In Castille.
___________________
[7]
Don Lorenzo de Cepeda,
born In 1519,
left Spain for the New World in 1540
in company of his brothers
Jerome and Peter.
After various adventures he became
in 1550 treasurer to the Viceroy at Quito.
He married in 1556
Dona Juana de Fuentes y Espinosa
by whom he had seven children.
After her death in 1567 he resolved
to return to Europe but was prevented
from doing so till 1575.
He arrived in August of that year
at Sanlucar.
He died, 26th June 1580 at Avila,
and was buried in the chapel
of S. Joseph's Convent.
________________________
[8]
This good priest became
chaplain and confessor to the nuns,
and in November of this year
began to make the Saint uneasy.
He
- interfered with the discipline
of the house,
- kept his penitents long
in the confessional,
and
- introduced into the monastery
any confessor
a nun might wish to consult.
When the prioress Mary of S. Joseph,
remonstrated with him,
he went about the city
and consulted others
as to whether a prioress could meddle
with anything relating to confession.
S. Teresa applied
to Fray Pedro Fernandez, the visitor,
who, being at Seville,
inquired into the matter,
and ordered the prioress
to dismiss the indiscreet confessor.
(Note of Fray Antonio of S. Joseph
to Letter of 26th Nov. 1576.
Mother Mary of S. Joseph
says that although a servant of God
he was ignorant, puzzle-headed,
devoid of learning and experience.)
[ Blog Note:
The version, edited by John J. Burke, C.S.P.,
indicates Fray Antonio of S. Joseph
to Letter 113;
but is letter # 84 in vol ii. ed. Doblado]
_______________________
[9]
The custom of exchanging
the family name
for that of a Saint
introduced by S. Teresa
has had one disagreeable result,
namely that the same name
having been chosen by so many religious,
it is sometimes extremely difficult
to distinguish between them.
Among the names most frequently occurring,
not only at different periods
and in different countries,
but among contemporary religious
of one country
is that of Mary of S. Joseph.
Not less than six nuns,
spiritual daughters of S. Teresa bore it,
of whom four figure in her correspondence;
even Don Manuel de Serrano y Sanz
in his monumental work,
"Apuntes para una biblioteca de Escritoras
espanolas desde el ano 1401 al 1833"
( _ vols. Madrid, 1905),
is guilty of a confusion
between Mary of S. Joseph,
the sister of Don Julian Davila,
nun of the convent of S. Joseph at Avila,
and her namesake,
nun of Malagon, the subject of this note.
The daughter of
Don Sebastian de Salazar and
Dona Maria de Torres,
she was born
according to the register
of the convent of Malagon
at Molina,
but according to her own records
at Toledo,
about 1548,
and joined at an early age
the household of Dona Luisa de la Cerda
where S. Teresa made her acquaintance
during a prolonged stay
with Dona Luisa in 1562.
So profound was the impression
made by the Saint
upon that miniature court,
but especially upon the youthful
Maria de Salazar
that the entire household refrained
from frivolity and pleasure
and became a model of piety
and a source of edification.
Maria de Salazar met the Saint
again in 1568,
and soon afterwards asked
for the religious habit at Malagon,
where she was clothed
on 9th May 1570
and professed
on l0th June of the following year.
The Saint took her to Veas and
afterwards to Seville,
where she made her prioress,
and while engaged elsewhere
she never failed to direct her by letter
and to keep her informed
of the course of events.
The sixty letters addressed
by S. Teresa to Mary of S. Joseph
and now preserved at Valladolid
are second in importance
only to those written
to Father Jerome Gratian.
From time to time a cloud passed
over their friendship,
S. Teresa reproaching the prioress of Seville
for her astuteness;
but no sooner had it lifted
than she again poured out her heart
into that of her confidential friend.
The latter had her full share in the troubles
of the Reform:
in 1579 she was deprived of her office
and treated with unjustifiable rigour;
but after six months
her innocence triumphed,
and she was reappointed.
After S. Teresa's death,
Mary of S. Joseph undertook
a foundation at Lisbon
where she became involved
in the troubles of Father Gratian,
and also
in the struggle of Ven. Anne of Jesus
for the approbation by the Holy See
of the Constitutions of the Saint
for the nuns.
Both these affairs proved a source
of keen suffering which lasted
until the end of her life.
In 1603, she was transferred
to the convent of Cuerva near Toledo,
the prioress of which
was prejudiced against her,
and there she died
in the odour of sanctity,
19th October of the same year.
She was a ready writer,
and has left most important works,
on which see Serrano y Sanz,
1. c. ii. 333:
the "Libra de Recreaciones",
or what is preserved of it,
has been pubished
in El Monte Carmelo,
____ 1909. Oeuvres, iii. 376.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Note: refers to books
mentioned in this foot note.
Don Manuel de Serrano y Sanz
"Apuntes para una biblioteca de Escritoras
espanolas desde el ano 1401 al 183"3
(2 vols. Madrid, 1905),
"Notes for the Library of Spanish authors
from the year 1401 to 1833"
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Libro de las Recreaciones"
of Mary of S. Joseph (Salazar)
"Book of Recreations"
_________________
[10]
The house belonged to Pedro Pablo,
a minor canon of the Cathedral,
and was in the street called La Pageria;
until its demolition in 1882
it was called Casa de Santa Teresa.
The house was good,
but the neighbourhood evil,
and the nuns removed to another in 1586
[ Reforma, bk. iii. ch. xlvi. i].
_____________
[11]
Julian of Avila had returned
in the beginning of June 1575,
as appears from letters of
4th June and
19th October 1575.
[ Blog Note:
The version, edited by John J. Burke, C.S.P.,
indicates Letter 58;
but is letter # 54 in vol iii. ed. Doblado]
________________
[12]
The notary who drew up the deeds,
made the mistake,
as appears from a letter
of the Saint to Fray Mariano,
9th May 1576.
Her brother, Don Lorenzo, took refuge
in the monastery of the Carmelites
with Fray Jerome of the Mother of God,
and was there on the 29th April 1576,
as the Saint writes of it on that day.
[ Blog Note:
The version, edited by John J. Burke, C.S.P.,
indicates Letter 72;
but is letter # 47 in vol i ed. Doblado]
______________________
[13]
Don Fernando de Pantoja,
born at Seville,
belonged to a noble family of Avila
whose palace is still one
of the principal buildings of that town.
He entered in 1518
the charterhouse
of Santa Maria de las Cuevas
at Triana near Seville
and made his profession
in the following year.
Prior at Aniago and Cazalla,
near Valladolid and Seville respectively,
he was elected junior visitor
of the province of Catalonia.
In 1567 he became Prior of Las Cuevas,
and was appointed second,
and in 1571,
first visitor of the province of Castille.
Together with some other religious
of his order
he set himself against certain innovations
in the way of government
in which he thought to foresee
the germs of relaxation.
He was already over eighty years old
when he made the acquaintance
of S. Teresa
who had the highest admiration
for his sanctity,
as he also had of hers.
She always speaks of him
in terms of deep veneration,
and presented him with a relic
singularly dear to her,
a fragment of one of the thorns
with which our Lord was crowned.
From her, he learnt to have devotion
to S. Joseph and S. Anne
and built chapels in his charterhouse
in their honour.
He died 8th July 1582,
less than three months before S. Teresa
[ Oeuvres, iv. __ note. ]
_____________________
[14]
During this time S. Teresa sat
for Fray Juan de la Miseria,
who had been commanded
by Father Jerome Gratian
to paint her portrait.
See ch. xvii. 5, note.
______________________
[14]
3rd June 1576,
on the Sunday
within the octave of the Ascension.
See Foundations: ch. xxvi. i.
________________
[15]
At the end of the function
the Saint knelt before the archbishop
and begged his blessing,
but to her great confusion
the archbishop,
in the presence of a great crowd,
begged the Saint to bless him.
[ Reforma, bk. iii. ch. xlviii. 1 ].
________________ [16]
3rd June 1576,
on the Sunday
within the octave of the Ascension.
See Foundations: ch. xxvi. i.
|
End of Chapter 25
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
