- Continues the subject begun in the first chapter and - persuades the sisters to busy themselves constantly in beseeching God to help those who work for the Church. - Ends with an exclamatory prayer. |
CHAPTER 3
Let us now return
to the principal reason
for which the Lord has brought us
together in this house,
for which reason I am most desirous
that we may be able to please His
Majesty.
Seeing
- how great are the evils
of the present day and
- how no human strength will suffice to
quench the fire
kindled by these heretics
(though attempts have been made
to organize opposition to them,
as though such a great and
rapidly spreading evil
could be remedied by force of arms),
it seems to me
that it is like a war
in which the enemy
has overrun the whole country, and
the Lord of the country,
hard pressed, retires into a city,
which he causes to be well fortified,
and whence from time to time
he is able to attack.
Those who are in the city are picked men
who can do
more by themselves
than they could do with the aid
of many soldiers
if they were cowards.
Often this method gains the victory;
or, if the garrison does not conquer,
it is at least not conquered;
for, as it contains no traitors,
but picked men,
it can be reduced only by hunger.
In our own conflict, however,
we cannot be forced to surrender
by hunger;
we can die but we cannot be conquered.
Now why have I said this?
So that you may understand, my sisters,
that what we have to ask of God is
that,
in this little castle of ours,
inhabited as it is by good Christians,
none of us may go over to the enemy.
We must ask God, too,
to make the captains
in this castle or city
-- that is, the preachers
and theologians--
highly proficient in the way
of the Lord.
And as most of these are religious,
we must pray
that they may advance
- in perfection, and
- in the fulfilment of their vocation,
for this is very needful.
For, as I have already said,
it is the ecclesiastical and
not the secular arm
which must defend us.
And as we can do nothing
by either of these means
to help our King,
let us strive to live in such a way
that our prayers may be of avail
to help these servants of God,
who, at the cost of so much toil,
have fortified themselves with
learning and
virtuous living and
have laboured to help the Lord.
You may ask
why I emphasize this so much and
why I say we must help people
who are better than ourselves.
I will tell you, for I am not sure
if you properly understand as yet
how much we owe to the Lord
for bringing us to a place
where we are so free from
business matters,
occasions of sin and
the society of worldly people.
This is a very great favour and
one which is
not granted to the persons
of whom I have been speaking,
nor is it fitting
that it should be granted to them;
it would be less so now,
indeed, than at any other time,
for it is they who must
strengthen the weak and
give courage to God's little ones.
A fine thing it would be for soldiers
if they lost their captains!
These preachers and theologians
have to
live among men and
associate with men and
stay in palaces and
sometimes even behave
as people in palaces do
in outward matters.
Do you think, my daughters,
that it is an easy matter to have
to do business with the world,
to live in the world,
to engage in the affairs
of the world,
and, as I have said,
to live as worldly men do, and
yet inwardly
to be
strangers to the world, and
enemies of the world,
like persons who are in exile--
to be, in short,
not men but angels?
Yet unless these persons act thus, they
neither deserve to bear
the title of captain
nor to be allowed by the Lord
to leave their cells,
for they would do more harm than good.
This is no time for imperfections in those
whose duty it is to teach.
And if these teachers
are not inwardly fortified
by realizing the great importance
of spurning everything
beneath their feet and
by being
detached from things
which come to an end on earth, and
attached to things eternal,
they will betray this defect
in themselves,
however much they may try to hide it.
For with whom are they dealing
but with the world?
They need not fear:
the world will not
pardon them or
fail to observe their imperfections.
Of the good things they do many
will pass unnoticed, or
will even not be considered good at all;
but they need not fear
that any evil or imperfect thing they do
will be overlooked.
I am amazed
when I wonder
from whom
from whom
they learned about perfection,
when, instead of practising it themselves
(for they think they
have no obligation to do that and
have done quite enough
by a reasonable observance
of the Commandments),
they condemn others,
and at times
mistake virtue for indulgence.
Do not think, then,
that they need
but little Divine favour
in this great battle
upon which they have entered;
on the contrary, they need a great deal.
I beg you to try to live
in such a way
as to be worthy
to obtain two things from God.
First,
that there may be many
of these very learned
and religious men
who have the qualifications
for their task
which I have described, and
that the Lord may prepare those
who are not completely prepared
already and
who lack anything,
for a single one
who is perfect will do more
than many who are not.
Secondly, that after
they have entered upon this struggle,
which, as I say, is not light,
but a very heavy one,
the Lord may have them in His hand
so that they may be delivered
from all the dangers
that are in the world, and,
while sailing on this perilous sea,
may shut their ears
to the song of the sirens.
If we can prevail with God
in the smallest degree about this,
we shall be fighting His battle
even while living a cloistered life
and I shall consider as well spent
all the trouble to which I have gone
in founding this retreat, [17]
where I have also tried to ensure
that this Rule of Our Lady and Empress
shall be kept in its original perfection.
Do not think
that offering this petition continually
is useless.
Some people think it a hardship
not to be praying all the time
for their own souls.
Yet what better prayer
could there be than this?
You may be worried
because you think
it will do nothing
to lessen your pains in Purgatory,
but actually praying in this way
will relieve you of some of them
and anything else that is left--
well, let it remain.
After all, what does it matter
if I am in Purgatory
until the Day of Judgment
provided a single soul should be saved
through my prayer?
And how much less does it matter
if many souls profit by it
and the Lord is honoured!
Make no account of any pain
which has an end
if by means of it
any greater service can be rendered
to Him Who bore such pains for us.
Always try to find out
wherein lies the greatest perfection.
And for the love of the Lord
I beg you to beseech His Majesty
to hear us in this;
I, miserable creature though I am,
beseech this of His Majesty,
since it is for His glory
and the good of His Church,
which are my only wishes.
It seems over-bold of me
to think that I can do anything
towards obtaining this.
But I have confidence, my Lord,
in these servants of Thine
who are here,
knowing that they
neither desire
nor strive after anything
but to please Thee.
For Thy sake they have left
the little they possessed,
wishing they had more
so that they might serve Thee with it.
Since Thou, my Creator,
art not ungrateful,
I do not think Thou wilt fail to do
what they beseech of Thee,
for when Thou wert in the world, Lord,
Thou didst not despise women,
but didst always help them
and show them great compassion. [18]
Thou didst find
more faith and
no less love in them
than in men,
and one of them was
Thy most sacred Mother,
from
whose merits we derive merit, and
whose habit we wear,
though our sins make us unworthy
to do so. [19]
We can do nothing in public
that is of any use to Thee,
nor dare we speak of some
of the truths
over which we weep in secret
lest Thou shouldst not hear this
our just petition.
Yet, Lord
I cannot believe this
of Thy goodness and righteousness,
for Thou art a righteous Judge,
not like judges in the world,
who, being,
after all, men and sons of Adam,
refuse to consider any woman's virtue
as above suspicion.
Yes, my King,
but the day will come
when all will be known.
I am not speaking on my own account,
for the whole world is already aware
of my wickedness,
and I am glad
that it should become known;
but, when I see what the times are like,
I feel it is not right to repel spirits
which are virtuous and brave,
even though they be
the spirits of women.
Hear us not
when we ask Thee for
honours,
endowments,
money, or
anything
that has to do with the world;
but why shouldst Thou not hear us,
Eternal Father,
when we ask only for the honour
of Thy Son,
when we would forfeit
a thousand honours and
a thousand lives
for Thy sake?
Not for ourselves, Lord,
for we do not deserve to be heard,
but for the blood of Thy Son and
for His merits.
Oh, Eternal Father!
Surely all these
scourgings and
insults and
grievous tortures
will not be forgotten.
How, then, my Creator,
can a heart so [merciful and] loving
as Thine endure
that an act which was performed
by Thy Son
in order to please Thee the more
(for He loved Thee most deeply and
Thou didst command Him to love us)
should be treated as lightly
as those heretics treat
the Most Holy Sacrament today,
in taking it from its resting-place
when they destroy the churches?
Could it be
that [Thy Son and our Redeemer]
had failed to do something
to please Thee?
No: He fulfilled everything.
Was it not enough, Eternal Father,
that while He lived He
had no place to lay His head and
had always to endure so many trials?
Must they now deprive Him of the places
[20] to which He can invite His friends,
seeing how weak we are and
knowing that those who have to labour
need such food to sustain them?
Had He not already more than
sufficiently paid for the sin of Adam?
Has this most loving Lamb to pay
Has this most loving Lamb to pay
once more whenever we relapse into sin?
Permit it not, my Emperor;
let Thy Majesty be appeased;
look not upon our sins
but upon our redemption
by Thy Most Sacred Son,
upon His merits and
upon those of His glorious Mother
and of all the saints and martyrs
who have died for Thee.
Alas, Lord,
who is it that has dared to make
this petition in the name of all?
What a poor mediator am I, my daughters,
to gain a hearing for you and
to present your petition!
When this Sovereign Judge sees
how bold I am,
it may well move Him to anger,
as would be both right and just.
But behold, Lord,
Thou art a God of mercy;
have mercy upon this poor sinner,
this miserable worm
who is so bold with Thee.
Behold my desires, my God,
and the tears
with which I beg this of Thee;
forget my deeds, for Thy name's sake, and
have pity upon all these souls
who are being lost, and
help Thy Church.
Do not permit more harm
to be wrought to Christendom, Lord;
give light to this darkness.
For the love of the Lord, my sisters,
I beg you
to commend this poor sinner [21]
to His Majesty and
to beseech Him to give her humility,
as you are bound to do.
I do not charge you to pray
particularly for kings
and prelates of the Church,
especially for our Bishop,
for I know
that those of you now here
are very careful about this and
so I think it is needless for me
to say more.
Let those, who are to come, remember
that, if they have a prelate who is holy,
those under him will be holy too,
and let them realize how important it is
to bring him continually before the Lord.
If your prayers and desires and
disciplines and fasts
are not performed for the intentions
of which I have spoken,
reflect [and believe]
that you are not
carrying out the work or
fulfilling the object
for which the Lord
has brought you here.
_____________________
. Foot Notes: [17] Lit.: "making this corner." The reference is to St. Joseph's, Avila. [18] The italicized lines which follow, and are in the nature of a digression, do not appear in V., and in E. they have been crossed out. [19] Here follow two erased lines which are illegible but for the words "Thou didst honour the world". The exact sense of the following words ("We can . . . in secret") is affected by these illegible lines and must be considered uncertain. [20] Lit.: "of those." P. Banez wrote in the margin "of the mansions" using the word which is thus translated in the titles of the seven main divisions of the Interior Castle. T. has: "of the houses." [21] Lit., "poor little one." . |
| - End of Chapter 3 - |
