The Way of Perfection: St Teresa of Avila

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Chapter 2.

On Money and Poverty.

St Teresa has been described as one of the greatest of all writers in the Spanish language and as far as I know the very woman writer.

I can well see why this is so, she keeps her chapters short and her teachings so very easily understood. Clear as spring water. It reminds me of meeting a very saintly lady at Mass one morning and her inviting me back to her house for a chat and a cup of coffee. Of finding her very funny and entertaining and full of the most incredible wisdom and experience. Though a lady of incredible holiness and depth of prayer she keeps it so hidden in her warm humanity.

She is primarily writing here for her Spiritual Daughter rather than others and it is good to bear this very much in mind. The ideals she sets forth are very good for Carmelite nuns but I don't think would sit so well for someone, say, with a large family to take care of. But nevertheless it reminds me of a big beautiful Christmas pudding from which we can all pluck out plums to feed on.

A couple of things that made me laugh. She says that God takes care of us but sometimes unwillingly. It does often seem like this, like being in a wrestling match with God. I know there are two things I have been praying for nearly my entire life and never gotten them. One of them was grace I really, needed and still need to fight sin. But it never came. I don't really know why but Our Lady said to me one time I was fighting heroically in this matter. So I guess God prefers me to me in there fighting all the time rather than simply winning.

Another grace I prayed for most of my life concerned light on something that is to happen in the Church in the future. But concerning this Our Lord simply told me that sometimes not knowing is better than knowing as far as the future is concerned.

Another funny thing she said is she hoped if her daughters built a big wealthy convent that she hoped the walls would fall down and kill them all. She is a scream.

She mentions something that a lot of folks on the internet and elsewhere could learn from and that is on the matter of begging for money. It appears impossible to go to any Catholic website or Institution were they are not out there begging with both hands big time for money. Its just everywhere. But Teresa said we should be careful to know when to say enough is enough. Not to be going overboard on the panhandling.

The biggest lesson I learnt form the saint in this Chapter is on the need for constant and deep Faith; Faith which arises from deep prayer.

St Teresa knew better than anyone what a Son of a Bitch life can be. That in order to at least put up with it we need to really truly believe that Jesus and Mary are walking right alongside us through every foot of it.

When we look at the rates of suicide of drug and alchohol addiction , the spirralling suicides and mental health problems we can see what becomes of us facing the storm of life without Faith.

 

Its interesting you know on this matter of poverty I think she took St Clare as her model.

 

The Fourth Chapter talks about the inward journey to holiness. St Teresa compares her Carmels to Fortresses against evil.

This reminds me of what one Prioress said in describing the vocation of a Carmelite, 'To hang on the Cross with Christ'. As St Paul said,

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

1 Corinthians 1:20-31


Its true to a greater or lesser extent for us all. Faith is a kind of Holy Madness, the belief in the unseen. We become like Christ a living and acceptable Sacrifice. But as one French write said the only failure in life is not to have been a saint.

But God is the only source and cause of our joy. When we give ourselves to Him we are already in heaven. To leave Him is already to be in a little hell.

How terrible it would be to be a nun in Carmel with no Faith.

 

Pure gold, right there

 

Chapter Four

Saint Teresa is writing to her nuns here, so I suppose a lot of what she writes is not really relevant to lay people. However she lists three things as being essential to progress in prayer.

1. The we love each other.

2. Detachment from all created things.

3. Humility.

Love

Jesus said that:

Matthew 5:23–24

23 "If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and
there remember that your brother has anything against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

So in other words if we hold any ill will towards anyone we'll nowhere in prayer. Just as the Our Father says, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We just can't get past this. We hit a total brick wall if we don't forgive. It's a must. All progress in the Spiritual Life depends on this.

People speak of love all the time these days. But at best what they mean is a relationship were they get as much or more than they give. A kind of barter. Love in its highest form gives and does not count the cost. The whole of the Spiritual Life is really about learning to do this as Jesus and Mary did.

Detachment

St John of the Cross compares the soul to a little bird that wants to fly to the sky but is tied down to the ground. It doesn't matter if it is a great chain or a rope a only a little hair that is tying down the bird it still can't fly. There have been libraries of books written about obtaining detachment on thins like Penance, Fasting Self Discipline etc. Some of them very complicated. I found myself the best route to detachment is simply to pray. The more prayer the more detachment.

Humility.

Humility is simply to know the truth about yourself in relationship to God. That He is everything and we are nothing. He loads us down with gifts and all we have to do is open our arms to take them. I think people these days have a huge advantage in this. I would say pretty well any Catholic today has had a Conversion experience, usually a pretty radical one. We are in a place of Light were once we were in a place of Great Darkness. For a good dose of the Salt of Humility all we have to do is to look over our shoulders and recall how we once were and it brings us back down to Earth with a Great big thump.

I recall my Spiritual Director saying to me one time he had no idea how I sleep at nights.

He was right in a way. But once you hit total rock bottom the only place you have to go is Divine Mercy and that's the best door anywhere to knock on. It's a door that will always open; all we have to do is knock.

 

Robert is on fire now! Why do I post in this thread? Someone asked him: "What happened Robert? You've come out swinging!" He replied: "Reading [St.] Teresa of Avila"

 

Wow! That was something. He's absolutely right in what he says, imho.