Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Way of Perfection ~ St Teresa of Avila ~ Teresa of Jesus: The Way of Perfection - Discussion of Chapter 42 - St. Teresa of Avila

Discussion of

CHAPTER 42

The Way of Perfection

- Treats of these last words

of the Paternoster:

"Sed libera nos a malo. Amen."

"But deliver us from evil. Amen."
.

St. Teresa continues to teach

regarding The Lord's Prayer:

▀ "Jesus asked 'But deliver us from evil'

for Himself"

♦ St. Teresa seems to correlates

Christ's asking of the Lord's Prayer petition,

"Deliver us from evil",

with the events of Holy Thursday,

The Last Supper and

The agony in the Garden
and His impending passion and death.

"beseech(ing) the Father

to deliver Him

from so many evils and trials".

She said:

"I think the good Jesus was right

to ask

'But deliver us from evil'

for Himself,

for we know

how weary of this life He was

when at the Supper,

He said to His Apostles:

'With desire I have desired

to eat this pasch with you,

before I suffer.

For I say to you, that from this time

I will not eat it,

till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God'

[ Luke 22:15-16 ]

From this it can be seen

how weary He must have been of living"

"with the picture of the cruel death

that He was to suffer

always before His eyes

...and...

with

so many offenses being committed

against His Father and

such a multitude of souls being lost".

"How right He was

to beseech the Father

to deliver Him

from so many evils and trials and

to give Him rest forever

in His Kingdom,

of which He was the true heir".

St. Teresa writes twice that Christ was weary of life.

This is not explicitly found in the Gospel readings

so it seems this aspect occurred to her

as a result of her meditations

on the Humanity of Christ,

on His life and

on the Lord's Prayer.

"What was His whole life

but a continuous death..."

When Jesus (in the Lord's Prayer) said,

"But deliver us from evil, Amen",

St. Teresa says

that He, too, is asking for deliverance

from the trials and evils of the earthly existence.

Her interpretation of these words seems to be

that with His Ministry about to come to fulfillment,

Jesus was mindful of His journey's end.

The Spanish word for "weariness"

is associated with troubles/sorrows

from which one would pray

to be delivered or assisted.

St. Teresa was always mindful

of Our Lord's sorrows and trials

of His last week and especially at the Last Supper

which was just prior to

the agony in the garden of Gethsemane,

His betrayal by Judas, and

His impending passion and death.

So, accordingly, St. Teresa seems to associate

- the fulfillment of Jesus' mission and

- His final ("Our Father) petition,

"Deliver Us from evil."

with

- His abandonment of His life

to His Father's will and deliverance

"Now is my soul troubled.

And what shall I say?

Father, save me from this hour.

But for this cause I came unto this hour".

[ John 12:27 ]

"When Jesus had said these things,

He was troubled in spirit".

[ John 13:21 ]

"Then He saith to them:

My soul is sorrowful even unto death"

[ Matthew 26:38 ]

And as St. Teresa said

that "The Lord's Prayer"

"comprises the whole spiritual road,

- right from the beginning,

- until God

-- absorbs the soul and

-- gives it to drink abundantly

of the fountain of living water

which...was at the end of the road",

she now correlates the progression through this prayer

with the spiritual road of Jesus

- throughout His ministry

- through His trials

- to the Father.

"So also you now indeed have sorrow;

but I will see you again,

and your heart shall rejoice;

and your joy no man shall take from you.

I came forth from the Father,

and am come into the world:

again I leave the world,

and I go to the Father."

[ John 16: 22-28]

"I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine,

until that day when I shall drink it new

in the kingdom of God."

[ Mark 14: 25]

Luke 22:

10 And he said to them:

Behold, as you go into the city,

there shall meet you a man

carrying a pitcher of water:

follow him into the house

where he entereth in.

11 And you shall say to the goodman

of the house:

The master saith to thee,

Where is the guest chamber,

where I may eat the pasch

with my disciples?

12 And he will shew you a large dining room,

furnished; and there prepare.

13 And they going, found as he had said to

them, and made ready the pasch.

14 And when the hour was come, he sat down,

and the twelve apostles with him.

15 And he said to them:

With desire I have desired

to eat this pasch with you,

before I suffer.

16 For I say to you, that from this time

I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled

in the kingdom of God.

39 Then going out he went, as was his custom,

to the Mount of Olives,

and the disciples followed him.

40 When he arrived at the place he said to them,

"Pray that you may not undergo the test."

"Pray, lest ye enter into temptation"

41 After withdrawing

about a stone's throw from them

and kneeling, he prayed,

42 saying,

"Father, if you are willing,

take this cup away from me;

still, not my will but yours be done."

Father, if thou wilt,

remove this chalice from me:

but yet not my will, but thine be done.

43 (And to strengthen him an angel from heaven

appeared to him.

44 He was in such agony

and he prayed so fervently

that his sweat became like drops of blood

falling on the ground.)

43 And there appeared to him an angel

from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an agony, he prayed the longer.

44 And his sweat became as drops of blood,

trickling down upon the ground.

[ See Gospel excerpts

of John, Mark, and Matthew below ]
.

♦ "Jesus asked 'But deliver us from evil'

for us.

He teaches us to pray for it, too.

"His Son

asks it of Him

and

teaches us to ask Him for it too"

"By the word 'Amen',

as it comes at the end of every prayer,

I understand

that the Lord is begging

that we may be delivered

from all evil for ever".

"When I find myself trammelled

by weakness, lukewarmness,

lack of mortification

and many other things,

I realize that

I must beg for help from the Lord".

"What a mockery it all is,...

unless we beseech God

to deliver us from these perils for ever

and

to keep us from all evil!

"O my God and Lord,

deliver me from all evil

and

be pleased to lead me to that place

where all good things are to be found".

"I beseech the Lord, then,

to deliver me from all evil for ever,

since I

cannot pay what I owe,

and

may perhaps run farther into debt each day".

▀ "Thy Kingdom Come"

St. Teresa and those who have strived

with the help of God

to become detached from the material world,

pray to God that He would

- come and reside in this space

that they have made for Him

in their hearts (on earth)

"Thy Kingdom Come"

- "lead (them) to that place

where all good things are to be found",

to leave this earthly life and

to be with God in heaven

So she says:

"This life is unendurable".

"What good thing shall we find

in this life,...

in which we

- are deprived of our great Good

and

- are absent from Him?

"What can be looked for on earth by

- those to whom Thou hast given

some knowledge of what the world is

and

- those who have a living faith

in what the Eternal Father

has laid up for them

because His Son

asks it of Him

and

teaches us to ask Him for it too?"

"those who share in the favours of God...

being already partakers

in some knowledge of His greatness...

They have no desire to remain

where there are so many hindrances

to the enjoyment of so many blessings"

"...all the things they see on earth

seem dim to them

and

I wonder that they can live

for even an hour.

"No one can be content to do so

who

- has begun to enjoy such things,

and

- has been given the Kingdom of God

on earth,

and

- must live to do,

not his own will,

but the will of the King"

In chapter 19 St. Teresa also describes,

"...this love and desire for God

(that) can increase so much

that human nature is unable to bear it".

And in both chapters, as well as many others,

She states

- that one should

-- follow God's will

-- not one's own will

- that human desires can be mixed with

self-seeking impulses

"I shall not think it at all wrong...

for us to change our desire

by reflecting

- that, if we live,

we have more chance of serving God,

and

- that we might do this

by giving light to some soul

which otherwise would be lost;...

- that, if we serve Him more,

we shall

-- deserve to enjoy Him more,

and

-- grieve that we have served Him so little".

"we shall gain a great deal by (such trials)

if in order to serve the Lord Himself

we are willing

- to spend a long time here below and

- to live with our grief".

"...have patience and

leave himself in God's hands

so that His will might be fulfilled in him:

It is always best to leave ourselves

in God's hands".

▀ "Thy Will Be Done"

Yet, despite her prayer for deliverance

from this earth and all its temptations,

she stresses the need to live

to follow God's will:

"His will is for us

to desire truth,

whereas we desire falsehood;

His will is for us

to desire the eternal,

whereas we prefer that which passes away;

His will is for us

to desire great and sublime things,

whereas we desire the base things of earth;

He would have us desire

only what is certain,

whereas here on earth

we love what is doubtful".

"And the hardest thing to bear, Lord,

is that I cannot know with any certainty

- if I love Thee

and

- if my desires are acceptable

in Thy sight".

"And although our desire for this

may not be perfect,

let us strive to make the petition..."

"...to deliver us from these perils for ever

and

to keep us from all evil!"

"What does it cost us to ask it,

since we ask it of One

Who is so powerful? "

Since we have already

given Him our will,

let us leave the giving

to His will,

so that

we may be

the more surely heard;

and

may His Name be for ever hallowed

in the Heavens and on the earth

and

may His will be ever done in me.

Amen."
.

St. Teresa teaches regarding prayer:

▀ The Perfection of The Lord's Prayer:

"You have now seen

that it comprises the whole spiritual road,

- right from the beginning,

- until God absorbs the soul

and

gives it to drink abundantly

of the fountain of living water

which I told you

was at the end of the road."

"it comes from the lips of the Truth, Himself"

▀ Practicing mental prayer during vocal prayer:

♦ "What is meant by perfection in vocal prayer

...we consider and know

• To Whom the prayer is being made,

• Who is making it

and

• What is its object"

"For no one can...

make you say the Paternoster hurriedly,

without understanding it"

♦ "When you are told

that it is not good for you

to practise any but vocal prayer,

• do not be discouraged,

• but read this with great care

and

• beg God to explain to you

anything about prayer

which you cannot understand".

▀ In accordance with her advice above,

to "beg God to explain to you...about prayer",

St. Teresa states

that the Lord was teaching her

even as she wrote this book.

"for the Lord seems to have

been saving me labour

- by teaching both you and me

the Way

which I began to outline to you

and

- by showing me how much we ask for

when we repeat this evangelical prayer.

"for it had certainly never entered my mind

that there were such great secrets in it."

"Well does His Majesty know

- that I should not have ventured to do so,

and

- that my understanding

would not have been capable of it,

had He not taught me what I have said"

"Give thanks to Him for this, sisters,

for He must have done it

because of the humility with which

you asked me to write it for you

in your desire to be instructed

by one so unworthy.

The Lord

- has shown you the road and

- has taught me

what I wrote in the book"

"the Lord's will has been to teach us"

"I consider myself well repaid

for my labour in writing,

though it has certainly

been no labour to me

to think about

what I have been going to say,

as the Lord has taught me

the secrets of this evangelical prayer,

which has been a great comfort to me".

▀ St.Teresa stated that she would have liked

to teach regarding other vocal prayers,

(for example, "The Hail Mary")

"I had intended, as well...

to talk to you a little about

how you should say the Ave Maria...

but I have written at such length

that that will have to be left over".

But, she asserts that

- by this study of the Lord's Prayer and

- by keeping in mind

◦ To Whom the prayer is being made,

◦ we, who is making it, and

◦ What we are saying,

one will be able to say

other vocal prayers well, too.

"If you have learned

how to say the Paternoster well,

you will know enough

to enable you to say

all the other vocal prayers

you may have to recite."

▀ Benefits of the Lord's Prayer

▪ "what great consolation is comprised in it,

and

this is a great advantage to those

who cannot read"

( She seems to be saying that

one doesn't need to know latin or

even the ability to read

in order

to understand the Lord's Prayer,

to pray it with devotion and attention to God,

and

to progress in prayer.)

▪ "If they understood this prayer,

they

- could derive a great deal

of sound instruction from it

and

- would find it a real comfort"

"As we repeat the Paternoster

so many times daily,

then, as I have said,

• let us delight in it and

• strive to learn

from so excellent a Master

the humility with which He prays,

and

all the other things

that have been described"

"This tells you

• how to conduct yourselves on reaching

this fount of living water

and

• what the soul experiences when there,

and

• how God

- satiates it and

- takes away its thirst for earthly things,

and

- makes it grow in things pertaining

to God's service".

"This

- will be very helpful to those

who have reached the fount,

and

- will give them a great deal of light.

▀ The Disposition of this Book

"Before you see this book

I shall give it to my confessor,

Father Presentado Domingo Banez

of the Order of Saint Dominic".

"If he thinks you will benefit by it, and

If he gives it you to read,

and

if you find it of any comfort,

I, too, shall be comforted".

"If he gives you this book,

he will give you the other as well.

( 'The Life / Autobiography of Teresa of Jesus' )"

"Should it be found unsuitable

for anyone to read,

you must take the will for the deed,

as I have obeyed your command

by writing it."

"Blessed and praised be the Lord,

from Whom comes all the good

that we speak and think and do.

Amen."

Gospel Excerpts:

Gospel according to John:

(Entry into Jerusalem)

12:23. But Jesus answered them, saying:

The hour is come,

that the Son of man should be glorified.

12:24. Amen, amen I say to you,

unless the grain of wheat falling

into the ground die,

12:25. Itself remaineth alone.

But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

12:26 He that loveth his life shall lose it;

and he that hateth his life in this world,

keepeth it unto life eternal.

12:27. Now is my soul troubled.

And what shall I say?

Father, save me from this hour.

But for this cause I came unto this hour.

(Last Supper)

13:21. When Jesus had said these things,

he was troubled in spirit;

and he testified, and said:

Amen, amen I say to you,

one of you shall betray me.

16:22. So also you now indeed have sorrow;

but I will see you again,

and your heart shall rejoice;

and your joy no man shall take from you.

16:28. I came forth from the Father,

and am come into the world:

again I leave the world,

and I go to the Father.

Gospel according to Matthew

(Gethsemane)

26:37. And taking with him Peter

and the two sons of Zebedee,

he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad.

26:38. Then he saith to them:

My soul is sorrowful even unto death:

stay you here, and watch with me.

26:39. And going a little further, he fell upon his face,

praying, and saying:

My Father, if it be possible,

let this chalice pass from me.

Nevertheless not as I will,

but as thou wilt.

Gospel according to Mark

14:25. ...I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine,

until that day when I shall drink it new

in the kingdom of God.

   .
   End of Discussion
   of Chapter 42
   The Way of Perfection
   .

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

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Way of Perfection - Discussion of Chapter 42 - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus