. Discussion of CHAPTER 36 The Way of Perfection - Treats of these words in the Paternoster: "Dimitte nobis debita nostra." [126] "Forgive us our debts." . |
St. Teresa continues to teach regarding
the petitions of the Lord's Prayer:
"...If we have this heavenly food,
'Give us this day, our daily bread'
we are well able
to fulfil our undertaking to the Father
that His will shall be done in us."
'Thy will be done".
♦ Forgiveness
"So He now asks Him
to forgive us our debts,
as we ourselves forgive others.
'Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors .' "
"He does not say:
'as we shall forgive.' "
because
"...anyone who has already yielded
his own will
to the will of God,
must have done this already"
( -- already forgiven their debtors).
"Anyone, then,
who sincerely repeats this petition,
"Fiat voluntas tua",
"Thy Will be done"
must, at least in intention,
have done this already."
(She says that Jesus in the Lord's Prayer
does not say "as we shall forgive"
because "shall" can be interpreted
as a future promise to forgive.
Here, St. Teresa wants to clarify that
- the prior petition was asking
that we do God's will
- this petition is asking God
to forgive our offenses
as we, in following God's will,
are already striving to forgive others.)
"For, having given Him our wills,
we have given Him
complete rights over us,
and
we cannot do that without love".
♦ Forgiveness is essential
for Love of neighbor
"How greatly the Lord must esteem
this mutual love of ours
one for another!"
"See, then,...how important it is for us
to love one another
and
to be at peace".
"The good Jesus...simply says...
'Forgive us...
Because we forgive' ".
"that we must pardon all trifling things
which have been done to us".
. Matthew 5: 23 If therefore thou offer thy giftt at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath any thing against thee; 24 Leave there thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother: and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift. . |
. Matthew 18: 21 Then came Peter unto him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith to him: I say not to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times . |
♦ Attachments are an obstacle to
Love and Forgiveness
St. Teresa stated here and in previous chapters
that attachment to honor, esteem, and position
- can lead to the feeling of being slighted,
if one's expectation of deference is unmet
- these offenses, real or imagined,
can produce resentment toward another
- and so is an obstacle
to Forgiveness and
to Love of neighbor.
. The Way of Perfection Chapter 12 "and there is no small matter so extremely dangerous... so fatal to perfection...as are: - punctiliousness about honour and - sensitiveness to insult. . |
"Perhaps the reason
He said this
'Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors'
rather than anything else
was because He knew
that our fondness for (our) honour
made mutual love the hardest virtue
for us to attain,
though it is the virtue
dearest to His Father".
"Because of its very difficulty
(forgiveness and mutual love)
He put it where He did,
and after having asked
for so many great gifts for us,
(the petitions of the Lord's Prayer)
He offers it on our behalf to God".
"I beg (all) in Thy name...
to pay no heed
to little things
about which they think
that they are being slighted,
for, if they insist on these
nice points of honour,
they become like children
building houses of straw".
♦ The importance of Humility
in sustaining Love, Forgiveness,Detachment,
and not finding fault or offenses in others:
St. Teresa, herself, exemplified Humility
when she said:
"What can a poor creature like myself do,
who
has had so little to forgive others
and
has so much to be forgiven herself?"
Oh, how easily I used to feel slighted!
I am ashamed to think of it now"
She prayed:
"God grant
that no soul be lost
through its attention
to these wretched niceties about honour,
when it has no idea wherein honour consists.
. The Way of Perfection Chapter 4 "There are only three thing ...important...in helping us to preserve that peace... One of these is love for each other; the second, detachment from all created things; the third, true humility, which, although I put it last, is the most important of the three and embraces all the rest. The first --namely, love for each other-- this is of very great importance; for there is nothing, however annoying, that cannot easily be borne by those who love each other" . |
▲ True Honor
St. Teresa teaches
that true honor is
the glory and honor of God
- striving to attach oneself to God,
and share in His joys and sufferings
and
- detaching from the world's objects
"true honour... profits the soul.
"the soul's profit
and
what the world calls honour
can never be reconciled."
"And wherein did Thy honour consist,
O Lord,
Who hast honoured us?"
Jesus humbled Himself.
He returned Love for injury.
. Peter 1 Beloved: If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this, you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; . |
"You see now
why the saints rejoiced
in insults and persecutions:
it was because these gave them something
to present to the Lord
when they prayed to Him".
. The Way of Perfection Chapter 13 "Do you think that it was right for our good Jesus to have to suffer so many insults, and... that they had any right to do Him those wrongs? I do not know why anyone is in a convent who is willing to bear only the crosses that she has a perfect right to expect "the true source of which is want of humility" I am referring to - a want of mortification and - an attachment to worldly things and to self-interest Let us...in some small degree, imitate the great humility of the most Sacred Virgin..." . |
. The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus Chapter 20 "...true honour is not delusive, but real, - esteeming that which is worthy of esteem, and - despising that which is despicable; for everything is nothing, and less than nothing is - whatever passeth away, and - whatever is not pleasing unto God. but it is plain that these blessings are gained by abandoning all things. [ Life: Ch. 20: #34 ] . |
. Minor Works of St. Teresa From: Poem 15. "The Holocaust." "Written for the profession of Sister Isabel Of The Angels" "...Obscurity shall be my light ! Exalted when I'm most abased, My pathway by the cross is traced, Wherein I glory and delight. In base estate mine honour shows ; I bear the palm to suffering due, While from decay I spring anew And profit from my losses grows" . |
. MINOR WORKS OF ST. TERESA. Poem 21. From: "The Processional For The Feast Of The Holy Cross" "...Then, O my soul, embrace the Cross with Joy and gladness, The soul which to its God hath been Abandoned wholly, Being within its heart of hearts detached From all things earthly... For since upon the Cross the Saviour Hath freely rested, It hath become the source of glory And of honour. In suffering it becomes our life, Our consolation… Let us with eagerness embrace the Cross And follow Jesus. - Minor Works Of St. Teresa Conceptions Of The Love Of God Exclamations, Maxims And Poems Of Saint Teresa Of Jesus Translated From The Spanish By The Benedictines Of Stanbrook . |
St. Teresa continues to explain
that true honor
- is the honor of God
- is knowing that of ourselves,
we are nothing
- is participated in by those
"who have willingly borne many trials
for His sake".
Grant us, my God,
to understand
- how little we understand ourselves
and
- how empty our hands are
when we come to Thee
that Thou, of Thy mercy,
mayest forgive us.
♦ She teaches that
Forgiveness, Love, Humility
and Detachment
are exemplified in those
whom God has led
to advanced prayer states
and Contemplation:
"observe especially...
after experiencing the favours
granted by God
in the prayer...called perfect contemplation,
a person...
is very resolute,
and
makes a point..
of forgiving,
not [only] these mere nothings
which people call wrongs,
but any wrong,
however grave..."
In such a soul
"honour distresses (it) much more
than dishonour
and
it prefers trials
to a great deal of rest and ease".
"For anyone
to whom the Lord
has really given His Kingdom
no longer wants a kingdom
in this world,
- knowing that he is going
the right way...
and
- having already discovered
by experience
what great benefits
the soul gains
and
what progress it makes
when it suffers for God's sake"
"For only very rarely
does His Majesty grant it
such great consolations,
and
then only to those
who have willingly
borne many trials for His sake.
For contemplatives...
have to bear heavy trials"
"...these persons
have already learned
to rate everything
at its proper valuation,
they pay little attention
to things
which pass away".
"Just as other people
prize gold and jewels,
so these persons
prize and desire trials,
for they know quite well
that trials will make them rich".
"Such persons would never
on any account
esteem themselves"
"they want their sins
to be known"
"they know quite well
(that their possessions, position)
will be of no advantage to them
in the kingdom
which has no end.
The reason for this is
that those to whom
God grants the favour
of possessing
such humility
and
great love for Him
- forget themselves
when there is a possibility
of rendering Him greater services,
and
- simply cannot believe
that others are troubled by things
which they themselves do not consider
as wrongs at all.
These last effects...
are produced in persons
who have reached
a high degree of perfection
and
to whom the Lord commonly grants
the favour of uniting them to Himself
by perfect contemplation.
But the first of these effects
--namely, the determination
to suffer wrongs
even though such suffering
brings distress--
is very quickly seen
in anyone to whom the Lord
has granted this grace of prayer
as far as the stage of union.
"...a soul which
- has approached so nearly
to Mercy Itself, and
- has learned to know
itself
and
the greatness of God's pardon,
will…immediately and readily
forgive,
and
be mollified
and
remain on good terms with a person
who has done it wrong.
For such a soul remembers
the consolation and grace
which God has shown it,
in which it has recognized
the signs of great love,
and
it is glad
that the occasion presents itself
for showing Him some love in return"
"...although the grace and the consolations
may pass quickly,
it can be recognized in due course
through the benefits
which it bestows on the soul.
It may be that,
when the Lord first grants these favours,
the soul will not immediately
attain this fortitude.
But,
if He continues to grant them,
He will soon give it fortitude...
certainly, at least,
as regards forgiveness,
if not in the other virtues as well.
. MINOR WORKS OF ST. TERESA. Conceptions of the Love of God Chapter 3 "Of the genuine peace" #11 "Let us not trouble about our fears nor lose heart at the sight of our frailty, but strive to fortify our humility and be clearly convinced of how little we can do for ourselves, for without the grace of God we are nothing. Let us confide in His mercy and distrust our own strength in every way, because reliance on this is the root of all our weakness. It was not without strong reason that our Lord showed weakness... He acted thus to comfort us, to show that good desires must be carried out in deeds, and to make us recognise that when the soul first begins mortifying itself, it finds everything painful. It is a pain to give up pleasures ; a torment to forgo honour ; an intolerable trial to bear a hard word ; — in short, nothing but mortal sufferings" St. Matt. xxvi. 38 : Tristis est anima "Then he saith to them: My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here, and watch with me" . |
♦ Prayer and the Eucharist nourishes the growth
of virtue, charity, and forgiveness.
"Our good Master sees
▪ that, if we have this Heavenly Food,
everything is easy for us,
except when we are ourselves to blame,
and
▪ that we are well able
to fulfil our undertaking to the Father
that His will shall be done in us".
_________________
| . End of Discussion of Chapter 36 The Way of Perfection . |
