of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
Discussion of Chapter 29
█ The account of the Foundation at Palencia
▀ Envisioning a Monastery at Palencia
▀ Monastery of S. Joseph at Palencia
29th December 1580
on the feast of King David
on the feast of S. Thomas of Canterbury,
( St. Thomas Beckett)
▀ Relocation of the Monastery
▀ St. Joseph of Our Lady of the Street
on May 26, 1581
or possibly on May 30, 1581
or a day within the octave of Corpus Christi
Nuestra Señora de la Calle
▀ A further relocation, 10 years later
▀ St. Teresa's Instruction to her nuns
■ Reasons for and Benefits of her writing
■ Trust in God
"that everything comes from His hand"
Resignation to the will of God,
so that He may use (us)
for what purposes He pleases,
and
Courage in one's weaknesses
■ St. Teresa's praise for
the people of Palencia
________________________
Church and Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites
_____________________
Church of Our Lady of the Street
__________________________
[The above Drawings are from:
"St Teresa of Jesus of the Order
of Our Lady of Mt Carmel
embracing The Life , Relations,
Maxims, and Foundations"
Edited by John J. Burke, C.S.P. 1911
from www.books.google.com ]
_____________________
Discussion of Chapter 29
▀ Envisioning a Monastery at Palencia
■ The Bishop of Palencia,
Don Alvaro de Mendoza,
requests that St. Teresa found
a Carmelite convent in Palencia.
He had helped her
when he was Bishop of Avila,
to found a convent there.
Now that he was transferred to Palencia,
he requested a convent to be founded there.
"the Bishop of Palencia,
Don Alvaro de Mendoza,
who accepted and at all times helped
the first monastery,
that of S. Joseph, Avila...
When...being translated to Palencia,
our Lord put it into his heart
to have a monastery
of this holy order
founded there. "
[ Foundations: Ch. 29: # 1 ]
■ "This foundation,
with that of Burgos,
had been under consideration
for nearly a year"
■ St. Teresa is summoned regarding
the founding of a convent in Palencia
St. Teresa, around March 1580,
was directed by her Superior,
Fray Angel de Salazar,
to go to Valladolid
regarding the foundation in Palencia.
"When I came away
from making the foundation
of Villanueva de la Jara,
I was ordered by my superior
to go to Valladolid"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29: # 1 ]
"The Saint left Villanueva de la Jara
on 20th March 1580
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 1 ]
■ St. Teresa's Deliberations
"I found that the disadvantages of it
were many."
[ Foundations: Ch. 29: #2 ]
"and so far from thinking
I could do anything"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29: # 1 ]
"I thought everything impossible"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29: # 3 ]
▪ The difficulties
◦ St. Teresa's Illness
"On my arrival in Valladolid,
I became so seriously ill
that they thought I must die."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 1 ]
"The year 1580 witnessed
an universal outbreak of influenza...
S. Teresa...was attacked by the disease
when at Valladolid in the autumn,
and narrowly escaped death.
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 4 ]
"25th March, (1580)
and is struck by paralysis.
She recovers by degrees"
[ Foundations: Introduction
'Annals of the Saint's Life' ]
"On March 31 (1580)
has a paralytic stroke"
[ Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila
Volume 1
'An outline of the Life of St. Teresa'
Transl by Edgar Allison Peers ]
"though my strength had begun
to come back,
yet such was my weakness
that I lost that confidence
I usually had
when I had to begin
any of these foundations.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 3 ]
◦ Lack of means
"neither had I the means to begin it,
for the monastery was
to be founded in poverty,
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 1 ]
"it was not possible
to live by alms in Palencia"
for as to founding it
with an endowment
I saw it could not be done then"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 7 ]
◦ The poverty of the locale
"and I was told
that it could not be maintained,
because the place was very poor.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 1 ]
▪ Many wished for the foundation
in add ition to the Bishop
"the Prioress of our monastery
in Valladolid,
wished much to see the foundation made"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 2 ]
"The prioress of Valladolid did
all she could to help me,
for she wished much
for the foundation in Palencia,
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 5 ]
"This was Maria de Ocampo,
a niece of the Saint."
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 5 ]
▪ St. Teresa seeks Consultation
with holy and learned Fathers
She consults
"a father of the society (of Jesus)
the doctor Ripalda,
a great servant of God,
who at one time
used to hear my confession"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 4 ]
"He bade me give it up
on no account"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 5 ]
In fact,
she was already given this advice
"by a provincial of the society,
Father Baltasar Alvarez"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 5 ]
"Fray Jerome of the Mother of God
.... said that he was willing the foundation
should be made
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 9 ]
▪ St. Teresa prays to know God's Will
"I implored our Lord,
when I had just received communion,
to give me light
that I might in all things
do His will...
Our Lord said to me,
as if (He) were reproaching me,
'What art thou afraid of ?
When did I ever fail thee ?
I am to-day
what I have always been;
Do not give up these two foundations.'
So my courage and resolution came,
the whole world was not strong enough
to oppose me,
and
I began at once
to make my preparations,
and our Lord
to furnish the means".
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 6 ]
▀ Preparations and arrangements
"and as God commanded it
to be made
His Majesty would see to that"
■ Obtaining a House in Palencia
Hasta San Juan,
a resident of Palencia
gave them use of the house he rented
for approximately 7 months:
"for a nobleman
( Hasta San Juan. - Foot note #11)
who lived there,
having gone to live elsewhere,
had given us until Midsummer
in the following year
a house he had hired"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 7 ]
"The house was the property
of Dona Isabel de Moya"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 12 ]
"I wrote to a canon of that city,
(Don Jerome de Reinoso,
Footnote #13)
... begging him
to have the house emptied for us
as secretly as he could,
for some one was staying in it
whom he was not to tell
what it was wanted for:
notwithstanding
that some of the chief persons there
had shown their good will,
and the bishop very much so,
I looked on it as being much safer
to let nobody know of the matter."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 7 ]
■ Support and assistance received
"I received two nuns,
that we might have wherewithal
to buy a house"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 6 ]
"The Canon Reinoso
not only had the house made ready for us
but beds also,
with many comforts abundantly supplied;
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 8 ]
"a friend of the nuns of Valladolid,
Agustin de Vitoria,
...had lent me money
to furnish the house,
and
...had been a great comfort to us
on the road.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 8 ]
■ Authorization and Consent
"some of the chief persons there
had shown their good will,
and the bishop very much so"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 7 ]
"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"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 15 ]
■ The Journey from Valladolid
"for I left Valladolid
on the feast of the Innocents
(1580)"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 7 ]
"She leaves Valladolid for Palencia
on the feast of the Holy Innocents,
(December 28 1580)
[ Foundations: Introduction
'Annals of the Saint's Life' ]
"1580...December 28.
Leaves Valladolid for Palencia"
[ Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila
Volume 1
'An outline of the Life of St. Teresa'
Transl by Edgar Allison Peers ]
■ Arrival at the house in Palencia
December 28, 1580
"In truth,
we had hardly any rest
till we had made everything ready
for saying Mass the next morning.
◦ Secrecy
"I would have that done
before anybody knew we were there,
because I have found
that to be the best way
in making these foundations,
for if we begin to consult people
Satan disturbs everything;
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 8 ]
"as secretly as he could,
...not to tell
what it was wanted for:
"I looked on it as being much safer
to let nobody know of the matter.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 7 ]
◦ Her Companions
We came here (with)
five nuns,
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9 ]
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.
Blog Note:
Another but older version
also edited and translated
by D. Lewis
lists
Marie of the Holy Ghost,
born in Burgos"
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 17]
and
a lay sister
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9 ]
The Venerable Anne
of S. Bartholomew.
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 18]
who for some time
has been with me
as my companion,
but she is
so great a servant of God
and so provident,
that she is able to help me
more than any other.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9 ]
"With us was also
Agustin de Vitoria...
who had been a great comfort to us
on the road.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 8 ]
▀ The Foundation of the Monastery at Palencia
December 29, 1580
"The monastery of Palencia
was called The Monastery of S. Joseph
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note #31]
"Mass was said 29th December"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 14 ]
"for early in the morning
when it was scarcely dawn,
Mass was said by a priest
who came with us,
named Porras,
a great servant of God.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 8 ]
"the feast of S. Thomas of Canterbury,
( St. Thomas Beckett)
which is also the day
on which king David is commemorated
in the martyrology;
the Carmelites kept that of King David.
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 14 ]
"1580...December 29.
Foundation of Convent at Palencia"
[ Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila
Volume 1
'An outline of the Life of St. Teresa'
Transl by Edgar Allison Peers ]
"the foundation is made
on the feast of David the King
in a hired house."
[ Foundations: Introduction
'Annals of the Saint's Life' ]
It was a joy to me
that the foundation was made
on the day on which
the feast of king David is kept,
for I have a devotion to him.
I sent immediately in the morning
a message to the Bishop,
for he did not even know
that I had arrived that day...
He told us
he should
- give us all the bread
we should require,
and
- gave his steward orders
to furnish many things.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9 ]
"The joy shown by the people
was so great and so general
as to make it very remarkable,
for there was no one
who took it amiss.
...the whole population is
the best and noblest I have seen,
and accordingly
I rejoice more and more every day
that I have made a foundation there.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9 ]
"the bell
in token of the inauguration
of the convent
was hung two days later.
[ Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 20 ]
|
▀ Relocation of the Monastery
■ The need to relocate
• the house was lent to them
for a short time
• It was for sale
• It was not in good location
"As the house was not our own,
we began at once
to treat for the purchase of another,
for though (the one we were in)
that we were in
- was for sale,
- it was very badly placed"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 10 ]
■ Planning for the purchase
of a Building for the Monastery
"I thought,
with the help I should have
from the nuns
who were to live in it,
I might treat with some security"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 10 ]
"The good Canon Reinoso brought
with...the Canon Salinas,
...between them both
the matter was looked after
just as if it was their own,
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 10 ]
■ Our Lady of the Street hermitage
"There was a building in the town,
a hermitage devoutly frequented,
dedicated to our Lady,
with the title of
Our Lady of the Street.
It is a very holy place
in the eyes
of the whole country and
of the town itself,
and many people resort to it.
It seemed...
that we should be well placed
close to that church.
◦ The church is donated to the Order
"This,
- the chapter and
- a certain confraternity
would have to give up to us,
and accordingly
we began to take steps for obtaining it.
The chapter at once
gave it to us as a gift...
the members of the confraternity...
did so also;
...though I had some trouble
in coming to an understanding...
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 11]
■ Obtaining a house for the Convent
◦ The adjoining houses were needed
for the convent area.
"There was no house
belonging to (the church)
but there were two adjoining it,
which, if we bought them,
would be enough for us
if we had the church also".
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 11 ]
◦ Originally considered, then dismissed,
but later chosen
Because of the ensuing difficulties
"we all made up our minds,
as that house would not suit,
to look for another"
- "the owners...raised the price".
- These houses were in poor condition.
"they seemed...so poor
that I would not have them
on any account. "
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 12]
" they looked so wretched"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 13]
- The houses were too far from the Cathedral
but was conveniently situated
for the people
"at too great a distance
from the cathedral church,
yet it was the most thickly peopled
part of the town."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 12]
◦ Another distant site is almost bought
which would have precluded them
from occupying "Our Lady of the Street"
and
which itself was unsuitable:
"the object which Satan must have had,
that we should not go to that of our Lady"
"we found many difficulties,
we made light of them,
notwithstanding the great trouble
we should have in overcoming them,
"for all that part of it
which was fitted for our living in
would have to be pulled down
in order to build the church,
and after all an inconvenient one"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 13]
◦ St. Teresa prays for to know God's Will.
"I went to receive the Most Holy Sacrament,
and at the moment of communion
I heard these words,
'This is the house for thee,'
....that of our Lady ( of the Street)
'They do not know
how much I am offended
in that place,
and this will be a great reparation.'
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 14]
"it taught me
to have little confidence in myself"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 13]
◦ She Consults her Confessor
"I have been accustomed
when these spiritual visitations occur
always to do that
which my confessor may advise,
in order that I might travel
on the safe road...
I would have ended, however,
by doing what he told me,
for I trusted in our Lord...
for His Majesty changes
the confessor's mind...
so that he shall do
what our Lord wills.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 16]
◦ Providence
"I was now confident
that God would find a way out of it;
and so it came to pass"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 17]
◦ The houses near Our Lady of the Street
are again pursued and finally bought
Canon Reinoso and Canon Salinas
"made haste at once
to purchase the houses...
the help they gave us
in arranging the house,
and also
in paying the money for it,
and
in becoming our sureties also,
as I had no money myself,
was very great,
...if they did not trust in our Lord
they would not have done so,
because I have no means.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 20]
The dowry of two novices was added
to the sum furnished
by the two canons
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 25]
"...With the two canons as sureties,
the steward,
whose name was Prudencio...
{ (who was) the corregidor of the bishop
[ #9 and Foot note # 26] }
signed on as guarantor or backer.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 21]
▀ The Monastery is relocated to
Our Lady of the Street,
Nuestra Señora de la Calle
"The monastery of Palencia ...
on its removal to the hermitage...
was called....
S. Joseph of our Lady of the Street"
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note #31]
"The Saint takes possession
of the new house":
"At last...
the house was fully prepared
for the nuns to go into it"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 23]
■ The date of the new Monastery
Regarding the date of the procession,
inaugurating the new Monastery,
there was differing documentation:
"In 1581 Corpus Christi fell
on Thursday 25th May..."
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 27]
St. Teresa wrote:
"it was done one day
within the octave of Corpus Christi"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 23]
which would seem
that the procession took place
on May 26, 1581
Athough a Spanish version says:
un dia de la octava
del Santísimo Sacramento"
"a day of the octave
of the Blessed Sacrament"
The following reference to the
"Reforma de los Descalzos"
mentions the "octave day".
Whether this meant the 8th day
which would have been June 1, 1581
or not is unclear.
"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.]"
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 27]
The same foot note specifies
"Tuesday within the octave"
which would appear to be May 30:
"From a letter of 29th May,
it appears, however,
that the procession took place
on Tuesday within the octave."
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 27]
A later date is given by Peers:
"June 1 (1581)
The Palencia community
moves to its new house."
[Complete Works
of St.Teresa of Avila: Vol 1
'An outline of the Life
of St. Teresa'
Transl by Edgar Allison Peers]
But other documents have
St Teresa aready traveling
toward Soria by the last days of May.
"1581...Towards the end of May
the Saint goes from
Palencia to Soria,
[ Foundations: Introduction
'Annals of the Saint's Life' ]
"We arrived at Burgo
the day before the octave of
Corpus Christi, and
went to Communion on Thursday,
which was the day of the octave
[Foundations: Ch. 30: #7 ]
"Saint Teresa says
they arrived at Burgo de Osma
on Wednesday,
eve of the Octave of Corpus Christi,
that is,
since Corpus Christi in 1581
fell on 25th May,
on Wednesday 31st May."
[Foundations: Ch. 30:
Foot note to Paragraph #7 ]
Accordingly, the above relates
that St. Teresa, on her way to Soria,
reached Burgos on "the day before
the octave of Corpus Christi
which is the 7th day of the feast
( Wednesday May 31)
and "went to Communion on Thirday
which was the day of the octave"
(Thursday June 1
which is the octave- 8th day)
____________
■ The Procession
"the bishop would have them
go with great solemnity....
he came himself from Valladolid,
and was attended by
the chapter,
the religious orders,
and
almost the whole population
of the place...
We went...
all of us in procession,
in our white mantles...
to the parish church,
close to the house of our Lady.
Her image had come for us,
and
we took the Most Holy Sacrament...
and carried it into our church
in great pomp and order,
which stirred up much devotion."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 23]
"In the procession also were
Fray Jerome of the Mother of God,
and...Fray Nicholas Doria.
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 30]
The people "knew
- (that) we had no revenue, and
- that they would have to find us food,
and
yet they
not only did not forbid us
to come to them,
but declared our coming
to be a very great grace
which God gave them;
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 21]
■ "The Fruits of the Monastery
St. Teresa wrote:
"- that (God) is pleased to be here,
and
- that something wrong which must
have been done in the place
is done no longer
that is a change for the better".
◦ She related that in the past,
"every one that came
did not come out of devotion"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 22]
"the chief thing of all...
• the service
of our Lord and
of His glorious Mother
therein, and
• the removal of occasions of sin,
for nightly vigils were kept there,
and therefore,
as it was only a hermitage,
many things might
have been done there,
the hindering of which
was a vexation to Satan,
and we ourselves are glad to be able
to serve our Mother,
our Lady, our Protectress in anything".
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 18]
"The Bishop, Don Alvaro de Mendoza,
built a chapel for (Our Lady)
(since) the image of our Lady was
in a most unseemly place",
and by degrees
much was done
for the honour and glory
of the glorious Virgin
and
of her Son.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 22]
In affirming that the monastery
was for the popuace
"a very great grace
which God gave them"
St. Teresa wrote,
"if it did no more
than give them another church,
wherein the Most Holy Sacrament
had another house,
that is a great thing".
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 21]
|
▀ A further relocation, 10 years later
"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]. "
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 30]
"The Bernardines at present
occupy the convent
adjoining the church
of Our Lady of the Street.
It was given to them by Ferdinand VII.
after the destruction of their own cloister.
St. Teresa's cell is preserved
with great veneration.
The larger choir-grating was placed there
by the Saint with the permission
of the Cathedral chapter,
according to a letter dated
January 4, 1581:
"The chapter has granted us
the infinite favour of opening a grating
into this church."
(Lcttres de Ste. Therese, Bouix,
vol. iii. p. 250.)
The Carmelites lived only ten years
in this building
which they found very restricted.
Then Canon Reinoso offered them
his own house, which they accepted
with conditions.
They then began to build,
but having no other resources,
were obliged to use their own dowries
for the work and were soon reduced
to the greatest poverty.
God was good to them and sent them
as a novice Dona Luisa of Aragon,
whose fortune enriched the community
(Reforma de los Descalcos, vol. i. p. 746).
From her infancy Luisa d'Aragon
was remarkable for her virtues
and her extraordinary piety.
At the age of eleven she read
the writings of St. Teresa,
and by constant study of them
advanced rapidly towards perfection.
She wished to consecrate herself to God,
but at eighteen to please her parents,
she married Don Eugenio Manrique
de Padilla, Adelantado of Castille,
yet promised Our Lord that,
if she survived her husband,
she would enter the Carmelite Order.
Don Eugenio died after sixteen years
of married life.
His widow had over twenty thousand masses
said for the repose of his soul,
put her affairs in order,
and entered the convent at Palencia.
Before pronouncing her vows,
she gave away all her possessions
to charitable works,
and endowed the convent so largely
that she deserves to be called its foundress.
In the convent Luisa was distinguished
for her power of absorption in prayer.
After praying she was sometimes fairly
transfigured, and shone
with an angelic beauty
[ Lettres de Ste. Thcrcse.
Bouix, vol. iii. pp. 345-50],
and
[ Reforma de los Descalcos,
vol. iv. pp. 777-787] .".
[ Note 23: Page 703
"St Teresa of Jesus of the Order
of Our Lady of Mt Carmel
embracing The Life , Relations,
Maxims, and Foundations"
Edited by John J. Burke, C.S.P. 1911
from www.books.google.com ]
▀ St. Teresa's Instruction to her nuns:
Like chapters 28 and 27
and many other chapters
St. Teresa discusses
the Aim and Benefits of learning
the history of the foundations.
■ Reasons for and Benefits of her writing
She recorded the accounts
of the foundation of these monasteries
in obedience to the directions of her superiors.
But St. Teresa wants the reading
of these accounts to inspire and quicken:
• Praise and Thankfulness to God
• Rememberance and Appreciation
for those who labored and suffered
for the establishment and maintenance
of these Foundations.
Prayers for them.
The emulation of those
Carmelite predecessors
as models of Humility, Detachment,
Obedience, Perseverence, and all virtues
"what saints we have in heaven
who wore this habit ! "
• With the help of God,
to continue what God had begun
in the founding of these monasteries
All to diligently resolve to use this
Carmelite legacy and opportunity
to "progress in perfection".
▪ Praise and Thanksgiving to God
for all his graces and accomplishments
for the Carmelite Order and all others.
Regarding the protection of the
Reformed Carmelite, she wrote:
"that our Lord did a work
- that touched so nearly
the honour and glory
of His glorious Mother,
our Lady and Patroness as she is,
for the order is hers,
and
- (that) gave to me one
of the greatest joys and pleasures
that I could have in this life,
- the joy that I had in my heart,
and
- the desire I had
that all the world should give thanks
to our Lord...
for the devil had been so cunning
that the order would have
been overthrown..."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 25]
"Therefore, my brethren and sisters,
make haste to serve His Majesty,
who has so abundantly
heard our prayers.
Let those...consider
- His graciousness unto us, and
- the troubles and disquiet
from which He has delivered us;"
[ Foundations: Ch. 29: # 26]
▪ Prayers for those
who labored in and supported
the establishment and maintenance
of these Foundations.
Regarding the Bishop of Palencia,
Don Alvaro de Mendoza, she said:
"The Order owes him so much
that every one who shall read
the story of these foundations
is bound to pray to our Lord for him,
....and I ask to have it done
as an act of charity
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9]
Regarding the King Don Philip
"...we should pray to Him
for our holy King Don Philip,
whom God made use of
to bring everything
to so happy an end,
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 25]
• With the help of God,
to continue what God had begun
in the founding of these monasteries
"so that what has been well begun,
as it has been his good pleasure
to have made a beginning...
may not prove a failure
through our weakness. "
Foundations: Ch. 27: # 9]
"and let those
who are to come after us,
who will find everything easy,
for the love of our Lord
never allow any observance
tending to perfection
to fall into disuse.
Let them never give men
occasion to say of them...
'Their beginning was praiseworthy '
but let them strive
to go on
from good to better.
Let them consider
that the devil,
by means of very slight relaxations,
makes an opening
by which very great ones
may creep in.
Let it never happen to them to say,
'This is nothing — these are extremes.'
O my daughters,
everything is important
if it does not help us onwards.
I beseech you
for the love of our Lord
to keep in mind
- how soon everything passes away,
and
- how good our Lord has been to us
in bringing us to the Order,
and
- how severely she shall be punished
who shall be the first
to be lax in anything.
Do you direct your eyes
to the race of those holy prophets
from whom we are descended
— what saints we have in heaven
who wore this habit !
Let us dare
with a holy boldness,
by the grace of God,
to be ourselves like unto them.
Let us
- leave alone those things
which are nothing, and
- attend to those
which bring us near to Him
Who is our end,
- to serve and love Him
more and more,
for He will be for ever and ever.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 26]
______________
■ Trust in God
"that everything comes from His hand"
Resignation to the will of God,
so that He may use (us)
for what purposes He pleases,
and
Courage in one's weaknesses
Regarding her illnesses and her weaknesses
St. Teresa "often complained...to our Lord",
of the soul's subjugation to the body.
Although the soul is the higher spiritual part,
it can often be weighed down and distracted
by the body's needs and sufferings.
It seems that she is saying
that even when the appetites and senses
are controlled,
there is still the pains and fatiques which
assume one's attention and energy.
in "the absence of a grand spirit
to keep the body under control"
"In truth, I am lost
in amazement and grief...
at the great share
which the poor soul has
in the weakness of the body,
for (the soul) seems to have
nothing to do
but to observe ( the body's ) laws
according to
- ( the body's ) needs,
and
- anything else
which makes ( the body ) suffer.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 2]
"One of the greatest trials and miseries
of this life
seems to me to be
the absence of a grand spirit
to keep the body under control;
Illnesses and grievous afflictions,
though they are a trial,
I think nothing of
if the soul is strong,
for it praises God,
and sees
that everything comes
from His hand.
But to be
on the one hand
suffering,
and
on the other
doing nothing,
is to be in a fearful state
especially for a soul
that has had earnest desires
never to rest
inwardly or outwardly,
but to spend itself wholly
in the service of its great God"
Regarding herself, she said
"though my strength had begun
to come back,
yet such was my weakness
that I lost that confidence
( and courage )...
I thought everything impossible"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 3]
▪ Her Advice and Resoution:
"there is no help for it
but
- in patience
and
in confessing its wretchedness,
and
- in being resigned
to the will of God,
so that He may use it
for what purposes He pleases,
and
as He pleases."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 3]
She prayed,
"Now let the true fire come
it was generally
not I
who did anything in these foundations,
but He only
who is almighty".
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 5]
"It seems to be our Lord's good pleasure
that I and everybody else shall learn
- that it is His Majesty alone
who makes these foundations,
and
- that, as He by means of clay
gave sight to the blind,
so He will have one blind
as I am
not to act blindly.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 19]
She also consulted her Confessor.
"I told him the state I was in,
and that I looked upon him
as standing to me in the place of God"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 4]
|
▀ The Discalced Carmelites are granted
their own provincial administration.
St. Teresa touches upon it here in chapter 29:
"But, as these fathers will give
an account of this elsewhere,
there is no reason
why I should meddle with it.
I have spoken of it
- because it was
( in March 1581)
while I was occupied
with this foundation..."
that the announcement was made.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 25]
and
- because in Thanksgiving to God
she wants to enhearten those
"who are to come after us,
who will find everything easy"
to be faithful to the observance
of the primitive rule
because the authorization
to reclaim and observe it
was not gained without years
of suffering, labor and strife.
"When I was in Palencia
it pleased God to
- make a separation
of the friars of the reform
from the friars of the mitigation,
- each division to be a province by itself..."
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 24]
"Now we are all in peace,
friars of the mitigation
and
friars of the reform,
no one hinders us
in the service of our Lord"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 26]
"Fray Juan of Jesus
prior of Mancera (and)
Fray Diego of the Trinity,
prior of Pastrana...
obtained the bull of separation,
from Pope Gregory XIII
— Pia consideratlone —
dated 22nd June 1580"
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 32]
"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."
[Foundations: Ch. 29:
Foot note # 35]
▀ St. Teresa's praise
for the people of Palencia
Along with St. Teresa's thanksgiving,
recognition, and request for prayers
for those who supported the foundations,
she particulary extolled the excellence
of the people of Palencia:
throughout her account
of the Foundation at Palencia.
She wrote:
"I should like to speak much
in praise of the charity
of the people of Palencia,
of all together
and
of each in particular"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 21]
"the whole population is
the best and noblest I have seen,
and accordingly
I rejoice more and more every day
that I have made a foundation there.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9]
"for, as I have said before,
the people of the place are good,
and
I have nowhere seen better.
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 11]
"the truth is,
it seemed to me
like that of the primitive church
— at least it is not very
common in the world now;
they knew
- (that) we had no revenue, and
- that they would have to find us food,
and
yet they
not only did not forbid us
to come to them,
but declared our coming
to be a very great grace
which God gave them;
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 21]
"The joy shown by the people
was so great and so general
as to make it very remarkable,
for there was no one
who took it amiss. "
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 9]
Regarding the relocation
of the Monastery to the site
of Our lady of the Street, she wrote,
"the people, too,
wished us to take it,
and their joy is exceedingly great"
[Foundations: Ch. 29: # 21]
|
End of the Discussion
of Chapter 29
of the
Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
