Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Way of Perfection ~ St Teresa of Avila ~ Teresa of Jesus: The Way of Perfection - Discussion of Chapter 38 - St. Teresa of Avila

Discussion of

CHAPTER 38

The Way of Perfection

- Treats of the great need

which we have

to beseech the Eternal Father

to grant us what we ask

in these words:

"Et ne nos inducas in tentationem,

sed libera nos a malo." [132]

"And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil."

- Explains certain temptations.

This chapter is noteworthy

In this chapter, St. Teresa continues to teach

regarding the petitions of The Lord's Prayer.

She said of this petition,

"And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil"

"How rightly does our good Master

- teach us to

pray for this

and

- pray for it in our name!

St. Teresa explains:

█ that those souls whom God has led

to an advanced state of prayer

♦ will never pray
to be delivered from trials

♦ but will pray
to be delivered from the devil

and his tempations and deceptions.

▲ They do Not pray to be delivered from trials

"those who attain perfection

do not ask the Lord

to deliver them

from trials, temptations,

persecutions and conflicts

"that is another sure and striking sign

that these favours and this contemplation

which His Majesty gives them

are coming from the Spirit of the Lord

and

are not illusions"

"perfect souls

are in no way

repelled by trials,

but rather

- desire them

and

- pray for them

and

- love them"

"If there are no wars (trials to suffer for God)

... they know

that they will not get very far on that.

because they hope

to emerge from them (trials)

with the greater riches.

▲ They Do pray to be delivered from the devil

and his tempations and deceptions.

"Those whom they fear, and fear rightly,

and

from whom they always beg the Lord

to deliver them,

are enemies
who are treacherous, devils

who

transform themselves and

come and visit them

in the disguise of angels of light"

"From these enemies

let us pray the Lord often,

in the Paternoster,

to deliver us:

May He not allow us

to run into temptations

which deceive us"

"Because

- The soul fails to recognize them

until they have done it

a great deal of harm;

- they suck our life-blood

and

- put an end to our virtues

and

- we go on yielding to temptation

without knowing it".

█ St. Teresa discusses many temptations:

▲ Temptation:

Making us believe that a favour

is from God

but which ( the devil) is counterfeiting

   in order to
   make one proud and careless
   or

neglectful in striving to cultivate virtue,

▲ Temptation:

"Making us believe

that we possess virtues

which we do not (possess)"

▲ Temptation:

"Making us believe that favours

which they can counterfeit to us

come from God"

( She speaks of consolations

which are feigned by the devil to deceive;

in order to promote pride, vainglory, and

self-satisfaction in our own measly efforts.)

"This ...is the least harmful thing they can do;

...it may even help some"

if while

"Being ignorant that these consolations

come from the devil, and

knowing themselves

to be unworthy of such favours...:

- "it entices to spend more time in prayer

and

- thus to make greater progress.

- it will never cease to give thanks to God

and

- it will feel the greater obligation

to serve Him;

- will strive to prepare themselves

for more favours

which the Lord may grant them,

since they believe them

to come from His hand".

"For, when consolations and favours

come to us,

we feel that we

- are doing nothing but receive, and

- have the greater obligation to serve"

♦ Regarding this temptation,

St. Teresa advises:

► "Always

• strive after humility,

• try to realize

that you are not worthy

of these graces...

• do not seek them (favors)

• to be cautious, and

• to not let our humility break down

• to not become vainglorious,

in any way"

► "For His Majesty regards our intention,

which is to

- please Him and

- serve Him and

- keep near to Him in prayer,

and the Lord is faithful.

So then

"out of the evil which

(the devil) has been trying to do

the Lord brings good"

If we think we are experiencing

a favor from God,

strive for Thanksgiving and

give acknowledgement to God

for the grace and gift from God.

Do not seek more favors

but rather seek more closely to

follow His will and

accept those crosses

that we encounter.

Make your intention always

to please God;

not to be pleased and consoled.

▲ Temptation:

"Making us believe

that we possess virtues

which we do not"

"that is pestilential"

When we are deceived into thinking

that we are more virtuous

than we actually are,

we will assume, likewise,

- that our current efforts

are worthy and sufficient,

- and therefore deserving of such rewards

(favors and consolations) from God.

"when we suffer

from this other delusion

(that we possess virtues which we do not)

we think

that we are giving and serving,

and

that the Lord will be obliged to reward us"

"On the one hand,

our humility is weakened,

while, on the other,

we neglect to cultivate that virtue,

believing we have already acquired it"

"Though we may not consciously

have committed any mortal sin...

we...cannot continue on that road...

(to contemplation)

at best, he will never

get on with his journey".

♦ Regarding this temptation,

St. Teresa advises:

► "To me the best thing

seems to be

what our Master teaches us:

to pray, and

to beseech the Eternal Father

not to allow us

to fall into temptation.

► If we think that the Lord

has given us a certain grace,

we must understand

that it is

- a blessing

which we have received

- but which He may

take away from us again,

as...in the great providence of God,

often happens.

"our virtues are only lent us".

St. Teresa also advised

that often we may realize

that our virtue was fleeting

when we are put to the test.

"That being so,

who can say

that he possesses any virtue,...

if at the time

when he most needs this virtue

he finds himself devoid of it?"

► "let us

- rather think of ourselves

as lacking it (virtue)

and

- not run into debt

without having the means

of repayment":

so that we will pray for God's help

and not rely solely

- on our own efforts and

- "untested" virtue

in order to defend ourselves in time

of trials and temptations.

"The truth is

that, if we serve the Lord with humility,

He will sooner or later succour us

in our needs.

"But I advise you once more,

even if you think

you possess it (virtues),

to suspect that you may be mistaken;

for the person

who is truly humble

is always doubtful

about his own virtues".

"But, if we are not strong

in this virtue,

the Lord will leave us to ourselves...

This is a great favour on His part,

for it helps us to realize fully

that we have nothing

which has not been given us".

"we ought not to imagine

that the Lord has given them to us,

until we come to the test.

"For when the Lord really gives

one of these solid virtues,

it seems to bring all the rest

in its train:

that is a very well-known fact"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

∆ For example:

"The devil makes us believe

that we have ...patience..."

"The devil makes us believe

that we have some virtue (e.g.patience)

because we

have determination

and

make continual resolutions to suffer

a great deal for God's sake.

We really and truly believe

that we would suffer all this,

and the devil encourages us

in the belief, and

so we are very pleased.

♦ Regarding this temptation,

St. Teresa advises:

► "I advise you to place no reliance

on these virtues"

► "Whenever you have frequently to suffer,

- praise God for beginning

to teach you this virtue (e.g. patience)

and

- force yourself to suffer patiently,

for this is a sign

that He wants you to repay Him

for the virtue

which He is giving you,

and

- you must think of it

only as a deposit".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

∆ For example:

"to make us appear

very poor in spirit"

(thinking we are detached from objects)

"Accustoming ourselves

to saying this

goes far towards

making us think it true"

"we are in the habit of saying

that we

want nothing

and

care nothing about anything:

but as soon as the chance comes

of our being given something,

even though we do not in the least

need it,

all our poverty of spirit disappears".

"believing herself all the time

to be keeping (detached)...saying

"I do not want anything,

but I am having this

because I cannot do without it:

after all, if I am to serve God,

I must live,

and He wants us

to keep these bodies of ours alive."

"So the devil, in his angelic disguise,

suggests to her

that there are a thousand different things

which she needs and

that they are all good for her"

"And all the time

he is persuading her to believe

that she

is still being true to her vow

and

possesses the virtue of poverty

and

that what she has done

is no more than her duty."

♦ Regarding this temptation,

St. Teresa advises:

St. Teresa warns against the temptation

of thinking we have

the virtue of being Poor-In-Spirit when

this quality may appear to be present in us

due more to life circumstances,

rather than

due to daily conscious

choice and testing.

We may think that we are detached

from material goods

because we are not being tested.

But then, when something comes

within our grasp,

not only do we desire it

but also, we convince ourselves

that it is needed for survival.

St. Teresa seems to say

that Poverty of Spirit may be

an observed "Virtue of necessity"

until an opportunity

of acquisition of an object appears

which then will be difficult to forego

if one isn't truly detached.

► It is very important always

- to be on the watch and

- to realize that this is a temptation,

"we can only get to the truth of this

by keeping a continual watch

on ourselves:

"The devil makes you think

that you are poor,...

because you have made

(with the lips, of course)

a vow of poverty,

I say "with the lips"

because, if before

making the vow

we really meant in our hearts

what we were going to say,

the devil could not possibly

lead us into that temptation

"for we should see

that we were deceiving

the whole world, and ourselves"

"But a person

whose profession of poverty

is a genuine one

makes so little account of these things...

he never worries about them,...

he would consider it

of no great moment,

for the matter is one

of secondary importance to him

and

not his principal concern.

His thoughts rise high above it"

"This may not involve any sin,

but it is as well

that we should learn

to recognize our imperfections,

so that we can see

how far we are

from possessing the virtue of poverty,

which we must beg

and obtain from God.

If we think we already possess it,

we shall grow careless,

and, what is worse,

we shall be deceiving ourselves"

► "Stop worrying about yourself and

leave God to provide for you,

come what may.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

∆ For example:

"The same thing happens

with regard to humility"

"We think

that we have no desire for honour and

that we care nothing about anything;

but as soon as our honour

comes to be slighted in some detail

our feelings and actions at once show

that we are not humble at all"

If an opportunity occurs for us

to gain more honour,

we do not reject it;

♦ Regarding this temptation,

St. Teresa advises:

She prays:

"God grant we may not go so far

as actually to seek it! (honors)

"We always have phrases on our lips

about

wanting nothing,

and

caring nothing about anything,

and we

honestly think them to be true,

and

get so used to repeating them

that we come to believe them

more and more firmly"

► "But when...we keep on the watch,

we realize

that this is a temptation"

     .
   End of Discussion
   of Chapter 38
   The Way of Perfection
     .

Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Way of Perfection ~ St Teresa of Avila ~ Teresa of Jesus

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Way of Perfection - Discussion of Chapter 38 - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus