CHAPTER 18 (contents) - Continues the same subject and - Shows how much greater are the trials of contemplatives than those of actives. This chapter offers great consolation to actives. |
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St. Teresa advises
that Contemplatives
"are not bearing a lighter cross than... 'actives' ".
Actives are - those who practice active mental prayer - those whom God is not leading by way of contemplation. |
"the trials
given by God to contemplatives
- are intolerable; and
- they are of such a kind
that, were He not to feed them
with consolations,
(these trials) could not be borne"
"I feel quite sure
- that God gives them
much greater trials; and
- that He leads them
by a hard and rugged road,
so that they sometimes think they
are lost and
will have to go back and begin again"
"Their duty is
- to suffer as Christ did,
- to raise the Cross on high,
- not to allow it to leave their hands,
whatever the perils
in which they find themselves, and
- not to let themselves be found
backward in suffering"
"It is for this reason
that they are given such an honourable duty"
"Then His Majesty is obliged
to give them sustenance
-- not water,
but wine,
so that they may
become inebriated by it and
not realize
what they are going through and
what they are capable of bearing".
"It is clear
that, since God leads those
whom He most loves
by the way of trials,
the more He loves them,
the greater will be their trials"
St. Teresa says
to those who lead an active life and
to those who are being led by way of contemplation:
"The point is
that the Lord
- knows everyone
as he really is and
- gives each his work to do--
according to what He sees
to be most fitting
for his soul, and
for His own Self, and
for the good of his neighbour".
St. Teresa advises:
● "...practise mental prayer, sisters;
or, if any of you cannot do that,
(then do)
- vocal prayer,
- reading and
- colloquies with God"
● "...prepare yourselves for your work"
"...I am referring to the great virtues of...
humility,
mortification and
obedience....."
"these are the virtues...
which I desire you
to possess and
to strive to obtain and of
which you should cherish a holy envy.
Do not be troubled
because you have no experience
of those other kinds of devotion:
they are very unreliable.
"And even a person
who has not this obligation,
( vow of obedience)
but who wishes or tries
to achieve contemplation,
must...be fully resolved
to surrender her will
to a confessor who
is himself a contemplative and
will understand her.
...she will make more progress
in this way in a year
than in a great many years
if she acts otherwise"
● "Go cheerfully about whatever services
you are ordered to do..."
"merit and humility come in,
when you really think
that you are not fit
for what you are doing.
if such a servant is truly humble, she
will be blessed in her active life and
will never make any complaint
save of herself".
"let us leave everything to the Lord,
Who knows us better
than we know ourselves"
"True humility consists
in our being satisfied
with what is given us"
● "If you want to know
whether you have made progress or not,
you may be sure that you have
if each of you
- thinks herself the worst of all and
- shows that she thinks this
by acting for the profit and benefit
of the rest".
"Progress has nothing to do
with enjoying the greatest number
of consolations in prayer…"
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End of Discussion of Chapter 18 |
