The Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
CHAPTER 29 XXIX
Foot Notes:
[1]
The Saint left Villanueva de la Jara
on 20th March 1580
[ Reforma, bk. v. ch. vii. i],
and reached Toledo on Saturday
in Passiontide, 26th March,
having travelled the thirty leagues of road
without fatigue
(letter of 3rd April 1580).
__________________________
[2]
Fray Angel de Salazar,
whom the nuncio,
Monsignore Sega,
had appointed to govern and protect
the friars and nuns of the reform.
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[3]
See Foundations, ch. xxxi. at the end.
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[4]
The year 1580 witnessed
an universal outbreak of influenza
so that it became known as
'el ano del catarro. '
S. Teresa
who already in February of that year
had complained of being
' quite broken down and old'
was attacked by the disease
when at Valladolid in the autumn,
and narrowly escaped death.
Although, on 4th October,
she wrote to Father Gratian
that her health is good,
her appetite better, and that
she gradually is regaining her strength,
she never fully recovered;
her complexion,
hitherto fresh and healthy,
became changed and she bore
henceforth visible traces of old age.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Note: 1580
'el ano del catarro. '
The year of the cold
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[5]
This was Maria de Ocampo,
a niece of the Saint.
She made her profession
in S. Joseph's of Avila,
and is the novice spoken of in ch.1 #2.
The Saint speaks of her also
in her "Life", ch. xxxii. 13;
see note 6 there.
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[6]
See Relation, vii.
_________________
[7]
This was the old confessor
of the Saint in Avila,
and her constant friend.
See Life, ch. xxiv. 6.
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[8]
See Foundations, ch. xxxi. 4.
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[9]
The Saint asked Fray Jerome
of the Mother of God
to visit Palencia,
which he did,
though he was of the opinion of the Saint,
and against the foundation.
He returned in the same dispositions,
but a few days after
he came to the Saint and said
that he was willing the foundation
should be made
[ Reforma, bk. v. ch. vii. 4].
______________________
[10]
See ch. xxviii. # 31 ;
it was the same year, 1580.
______________________
[11]
Hasta San Juan.
______________________
[12]
The house was the property
of Dona Isabel de Moya.
[ Reforma, bk. V. ch. vii. 5].
_______________________
[13]
Don Jerome de Reinoso,
nephew of Don Francis de Reinoso,
who became bishop of Cordova;
[ ? Reforma: Bk. 7 #5 ]
he had been trained
in the spiritual life
by Father Baltasar Alvarez.
He died 20th December 1599.
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[14]
Mass was said 29th December,
the feast of S. Thomas of Canterbury,
which is also the day
on which king David is commemorated
in the martyrology;
the Carmelites kept that of King David.
[ ? Reforma: Bk. 7 #6 ]
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[15]
The Saint had not been able
to get the consent of the corregidor,
Don Prudencio,
and Fray Jerome of the Mother of God
went to him the second time
on the part of the Saint to ask for it.
The corregidor said,
'Well, father, let her have
what she asks for.
The mother Teresa
must be in possession of some decree
of the royal council of God,
which compels us to do her will
whether we like it or not"
[ Reforma, ib. ]
[ ? Reforma: Bk. 7 #6 ]
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[16]
He was not,
as has been generally supposed,
a priest,
but a nobleman,
married to Dona Isabel de Castro,
by whom he had several children,
one of whom became a Carmelite nun
at Valladolid.
[ Oeuvres, iv. 1 35, note i.]
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[17]
These were
Isabel of Jesus,
born in Segovia,
the prioress;
Beatrix of Jesus,
sub-prioress;
Ines of Jesus,
cousin of the Saint,
professed in the monastery
of the Incarnation;
and
Catherine of the Holy Ghost.
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[18]
The Venerable Anne of S. Bartholomew.
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[19]
See Life, ch. xvi. 5.
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[20]
From a letter of 13th January 1581,
it appears
that the bell
in token of the inauguration
of the convent
was hung two days later.
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[21]
Martin Alonso Salinas.
The Saint speaks of him again below,
ch. xxxi. 18.
He died 25th July 1592.
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[22]
He was the son of
Juan de Vega
president of Castille,
and his wife was Dona Elvira Manrique,
daughter of the count of Osorno
[ Reforma, bk. V. ch. vii. 4].
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[23]
See Relation, xi. 4,
where the Saint speaks of this.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Note:
"Relation 11
- Written from Palencia in May 1581,
and
- Addressed to Don Alonzo Velasquez,
Bishop of Osma..
4.
The interior locutions have not left me,
for, whenever it is necessary,
our Lord gives me certain directions;
and now, in Palencia,
were it not for these,
there would have been committed
a great blunder, though not a sin.
(Foot note)
This relates to the taking
of the hermitage of our Lady de la Calle,
in Palencia
(De la Fuente).
See Foundations, ch. xxix."
[ Relation 11 # 4 ]
St Teresa of Avila
Translated by David Lewis]
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[24]
S. John ix. 6:
'Fecit lutum ex sputo,
et linivit lutum super oculos ejus.'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Blog Note:
He made clay from the spittle,
and spread the clay upon his eyes.
"As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world...
When he had said these things,
he spat on the ground,
and made clay of the spittle,
and spread the clay on his eyes,
And said to him:
Go, wash in the pool of Siloe...
He went therefore, and washed,
and he came seeing
...
That man that is called Jesus
made clay, and anointed my eyes,
and said to me:
Go to the pool of Siloe, and wash.
And I went, I washed, and I see"
[ John 9: 5,6,7,11 ]
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[25]
The dowry of two novices was added
to the sum furnished
by the two canons
[ Reforma, bk. v. ch. vii. 6.]
________________
[26]
The corregidor of the bishop
mentioned in § 9.
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[27]
In 1581 Corpus Christi fell
on Thursday 25th May,
and the procession of the nuns
took place on the octave day
[ Reforma, bk. v. ch. vii. 7.].
From a letter of 29th May,
it appears, however,
that the procession took place
on Tuesday within the octave.
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[28]
The Saint walked immediately
behind the image of our Lady
with the bishop
and Don Francis de Reinoso,
followed by the magistracy
and the municipality.
Then the prioress, Isabel of Jesus,
between the corregidor
and Suero de Vega.
The wind was high, and all the candles
were blown out
with the sole exception of those
in the hands of the nuns
[ Reforma,bk. v. ch. vii. 7.).
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[29]
The church of S. Lazarus;
a halt was made at the convent
of S. Clare.
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[30]
They were seven in number
[ Reforma, ut supra].
In the procession also were
Fray Jerome of the Mother of God,
and his rival at a later time,
Fray Nicholas Doria.
The nuns remained here ten years,
but, as the abuses
of which the Saint complains
did not wholly cease,
and the vigils were continued
to a late hour of the night,
to the great disturbance of the nuns,
the house was abandoned,
but with regret,
because the Saint had chosen it;
and the nuns took possession
of another,
where they lived for some years
in great poverty
[Reforma, ut supra, § 8].
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[31]
The monastery of Palencia was called
S. Joseph,
and now on its removal
to the hermitage
it was called
S. Joseph of our Lady of the Street
[Reforma, bk. v. ch. vii. 7.].
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[32]
When the troubles of the friars
ceased in July, 1579,
by order of the nuncio Monsignore Sega,
S. Teresa chose Fray Juan of Jesus
to be the agent of the order in Rome.
He was then prior of Mancera,
and the Saint sent him to Avila,
where she was staying,
and gave him his instructions.
He had for his companion
Fray Diego of the Trinity,
prior of Pastrana.
They had to travel in secular garments
for fear of their brethren
of the mitigation.
They obtained the bull of separation,
from Gregory XIII
— Pia consideratlone —
dated 22nd June 1580,
and made haste to return to Spain.
They arrived in Toledo 26th September,
and sent word to the Saint,
then in Valladolid,
of the successful issue of their mission.
By this time the friars
of the old observance
were weary of the struggle,
and there was no further trouble
from without
[ Reforma, bk. iv. ch. xxxix. 7;
bk. v. ch. viii. i].
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[33]
The execution of the bull
mentioned in the foregoing note
was committed to the archbishops
of Toledo and Seville,
with the bishop of Palencia.
The archbishop of Seville,
Don Christobal de Rojas y Sandoval,
dying soon after,
the king proposed to the Pope
to put the old friend of the reform
in the commission,
Fray Pedro Fernandez,
then prior of S. Stephen's, Salamanca.
The Pope consented,
and the brief announcing the fact
was received by the king
9th October 1580.
Father Jerome of the Mother of God
went to Salamanca
to arrange matters with Fray Pedro,
whom he found on his death-bed.
When Fray Pedro was dead,
the king begged the Pope to appoint
Fray Juan de las Cuevas;
the Pope consented,
and the brief was received in Spain
4th January 1581.
That is the brief referred to in the text.
[Reforma, bk. V. ch. viii. 4-6].
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[34]
Born in Coca;
he was a friar of S. Stephen's, Salamanca.
In 1596
he was nominated bishop of Avila,
and two years later departed this life.
His name was
Juan Velasquez de las Cuevas.
Fray Juan, the new commissary,
before he entered on his office,
sent Fray Nicholas of Jesus Maria
with the original bulls and briefs
to Fray Angel de Salazar,
that he, having seen them,
might know
- that his own commission,
given him by the nuncio,
had expired,
- and for the future
refrain from all acts of jurisdiction
over the reform of S. Teresa.
That done.
Fray Juan returned to his monastery
in Talavera, and there,
1st February 1581,
summoned all the priors of the reform
to a chapter
to be held by him in Alcala
in the beginning of March
[ Reforma, bk. v. ch. ix. i].
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[35]
The priors of the order,
with their fellows,
in obedience to the summons
of the commissary apostolic,
assembled in Alcala 3rd March 1581,
and on that day
the separation of the reform
from the mitigation
was definitively made and recorded.
The former was to remain
still subject to the general,
but to be visited by none other
than by friars of their own rule,
or by the general in person.
On the next day, Saturday,
the definitors were elected,
namely, the fathers
Nicholas of Jesus Maria,
prior of Pastrana;
Antonio of Jesus,
prior of Mansera;
S. John of the Cross,
rector of Baeza ; and
Gabriel of the Assumption,
socius of the prior of La Roda.
Fray Ambrosio Mariano
was chosen secretary.
This done, they proceeded
to elect their provincial.
The apostolic commissary
proposed to them
Fray Jerome of the Mother of God,
who, the assembly being divided,
was elected by only one vote
more than was given
for Fray Antonio of Jesus.
On Sunday (Laetare)
there was a general procession,
and a theological disputation held
in the evening,
under the presidency of the commissary,
the defender of the conclusions being
Fray Juan of the Mother of God,
against the learned doctors
the university
[ Reforma, bk. v. ch. ix. x. l].
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[36]
The college was founded in 1570
by Fray Baltasar of Jesus,
the prince Ruy Gomez having supplied
the means;
and the first rector of it
was S. John of the Cross.
It was at this time called
"the College of our Lady of Carmel" ;
but in memory of the first chapter
of the barefooted Carmelites,
held there 6th March 1581,
the feast of Cyril,
the old name was changed
into that by which the Saint calls it
in the text ("The College of S. Cyril" )
[ Reforma, bk. ii. ch. xliii. 5 ; and
bk. v. ch. x. 2).
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[37]
Fray Jerome was at the time
prior of Los Remedios in Seville,
having been elected 19th February,
and confirmed by the superior,
Fray Angel de Salazar,
10th March 1580, in Salamanca.
His election as provincial
was probably due to the influence
of S. Teresa,
but Fray Antonio was very nearly chosen.
The latter was now worn out, and
the Saint greatly mistrusted his gifts
of government,
and thought he might do much harm
in the order
(Letter to Father Gratian, February 1581.
El datio que haria ahora !).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Note: (rough transation)
El datio que haria ahora !
The damage it would do
|
End of Chapter 29
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
