Way of Perfection - Chapter 7 - St. Teresa of Avila

                 CHAPTER  VII

Treats of the same subject        of spiritual love  and    gives certain counsels for gaining it.

It is strange to see 
  how impassioned this love is; 

  how many tears, penances and prayers 
        it costs; 

  how careful is the loving soul 

       to commend the object of its affection 

       to all who it thinks 
               may prevail  with God and

       to ask them to intercede with Him for it; and 

  how constant  is its longing, 

      so that it cannot be happy 

  unless it sees that its loved one 
      is making progress. 

If that soul 

   seems to have advanced, and

   is then seen 
                 to fall some way back, 

       her friend seems to have 
                 no more pleasure in life: 

       she neither eats nor sleeps, 

             is never free from this fear and 

             is always afraid 

                that the soul 

                    whom she loves so much 
                          may be lost, and 

                that the two may be parted for ever. 

        She cares nothing for physical death, 

        but she will not suffer herself 

               to be attached to something 

        which a puff of wind may carry away 

              so that she is unable to retain her hold upon it. 

This, as I have said, is love 

     without any degree 

     whatsoever of self-interest; 

all that this soul wishes and desires is 

     to see the soul [it loves] enriched 

  with blessings from  Heaven. 

This is love, 

     quite unlike our ill-starred earthly affections

           --to say nothing of illicit affections, 

                  from which may God  keep us free.

              These last affections are a very hell, 

               and it is needless for us to weary ourselves 

                    by saying how evil they are, 

               for the least of the evils

                   which they bring 

                are terrible beyond exaggeration. 

              There is no need for us ever 

                to take such things 
                     upon our lips, sisters, or even 

                to think of  them, or 

                to remember that they exist anywhere

                      in the world; 

              you must never listen to anyone speaking 

                      of such affections, 

              either in jest or in earnest, 

              nor allow them to be mentioned 

              or discussed in your presence. 

              No good can come 
                     from our doing this and

              it might do us harm 

                     even to hear them mentioned. 

But with regard to the lawful affections

         which, as I have said, 

   we may have 

          for each other, or 

          for relatives and friends, 

   it is different. 

Our whole desire is 

   that they should not die:

         if their heads ache, 

                our souls seem to ache too; 

         if we see them in distress, 

                we are unable (as people say) 

                       to sit still under it; [27]

                and so on.

This is not so with spiritual affection. 

    Although the weakness of our nature 

        may at first allow us 
           to feel something of all this, 

    our reason soon begins 

           to reflect whether our friend's trials 

                 are not good for her, and 

           to wonder if they are making 

                  her richer  in virtue  

           and how she is bearing them, 

           and then we shall ask God 

                   to give her patience 

              so that they may win her merit. 

If we see that she is being patient, 

   we feel no distress

             --indeed, we are gladdened and consoled. 

If all the merit and gain 

     which suffering is capable of producing 

could be made over to her,

   we should still prefer 

            suffering her trial ourselves 

          to seeing her suffer it, 

    but we are not worried or disquieted.

I repeat once more 

    that this love is a similitude and copy 
of that which was borne for us 
    by the good Lover, Jesus. 

It is for that reason 

   that it brings us such immense benefits, 

for it makes us embrace every kind of suffering, 

   so that others, 

       without having to endure the suffering, 

   may gain its advantages. 

The recipients of this friendship,

     then, profit greatly, 

      but their friends should realize 

         that either this intercourse

                     --I mean, this exclusive friendship--

               must come to an end or

         that they must prevail upon Our Lord 

               that their friend may walk 

                    in the same way as themselves, 

               as Saint Monica prevailed with Him 

                    for Saint Augustine. 

Their heart does not allow them to practise duplicity: 

if  they see their friend 

    straying from the road, or 

    committing any faults,

        they will speak to her about it; 

they cannot allow themselves to do

   anything else. 

And if after this the loved one does not amend, 

    they will not flatter her or hide anything from her. 

Either, then, she will amend 

    or their friendship will cease; 

    for otherwise they would be 

         unable to endure it, 

      nor is it in fact endurable. 

It would mean continual war for both parties. 

A person may be indifferent to all

   other people in the world 

and not worry 

     whether they are serving God or not, 

since the person she has to worry about is herself. 

But she cannot take this attitude with her friends:

 nothing they do can be hidden from her; 

     she sees the smallest mote in them. 

This, I repeat, is a very heavy cross for her to bear.

Happy the souls that are loved by such as these! 

Happy the day on which they came to know them! 

O my Lord, wilt Thou not grant me 

         the favour of  giving me many 

   who have such love for me? 

Truly, Lord, I would 
     rather have this 

     than be loved by all the kings and lords 

           of the world

                --and rightly so, 

     for such friends use every means in their power 

         to make us  lords of the whole world and 

         to have all that is in it subject to us.

 When you make the acquaintance 

          of any such persons, sisters, 

   the Mother Prioress should employ 

          every possible effort to keep you 

   in touch with  them. 

Love such persons as much as you like. 

There can be very few of  them, 

   but none the less 
it is the Lord's will 

   that their goodness should be known. 

When one of you is striving after perfection, 

   she will at once be told 

that she has no need to know such people

     --that it is enough for her to have God. 

But to get to know God's friends 

   is a very good way of "having" Him; 

as I have discovered by experience, 

   it is most helpful. 

For, under the Lord, 

    I owe it to such persons that I am not in hell; 

I was always very fond of asking them 

   to commend me to God, 

and so I prevailed upon them to do so.

Let us now return to what we were saying. 

It is this kind of love 

  which I should like us to have; 

at first it may not be perfect 

  but the Lord will make it increasingly so. 

Let us begin with the methods of obtaining it. 

At first it may be mingled with emotion, [28] 

   but this, as a rule, will do no harm. 

It is sometimes good and necessary for us

   to show emotion in our love, and also 

   to feel it, and

   to be distressed

      by some of our sisters' trials and weaknesses,  

        however trivial they may be. 

For on one occasion 

     as much distress may be caused 

                 by quite a small matter 

     as would be caused on another 

                 by some great trial, 

    and there are people 
        whose nature it is 

     to be very much cast down 

        by small things. 

If  you are not like this, 

    do not neglect to have compassion on others; 

it may be that Our Lord 

    wishes to spare us these sufferings and 

    will give us sufferings of another kind 

            which will seem heavy to us, 

    though to the person already mentioned 

             they may seem light. 

In these matters, then, 

    we must not judge others by ourselves, 

    nor think of ourselves 

       as we have been at some time 

   when, perhaps without any effort 
      on our part,

   the Lord has made us stronger than they; 

       let us think 
          of what we were like 

       at the times when we have been weakest.

Note the importance of this advice 

       for those of us 
who would learn to sympathize 

       with our neighbours' trials, 

however trivial these may be.

It is especially important for such souls 

  as have been described, 

for, desiring trials as they do,

   they make light of them all. 

They must therefore try hard to 

      - recall what they were like 

               when they were weak, and

      - reflect that,  if they are no longer so, 

               it is not due to themselves. 

For otherwise, little by little, 

the devil could easily 

   -  cool our charity toward our neighbours and 

   -  make us think 

        that what is really a failing on our part,

               is perfection.

In every respect we must be careful and alert, 

  - for the devil never slumbers.  And

  - the nearer we are  to perfection, 

     the more careful we must be, 

        since his temptations are then 
             much more cunning 
        because there are no others 
             that he dare send us; and

 - if, as I say, we are not cautious, 

       the harm is done before we realize it. 

In short, 
   we must always watch and pray, 

 for there is no better way than prayer of

          - revealing these hidden wiles of the devil and

          - making him declare his presence.

Contrive always, 

   even if you do not care for it, 

      to take part in your sisters' necessary recreation and 

      to do so for the whole of the allotted time, 

  for all considerate treatment of them 

      is a part of  perfect love. 

It is a very good thing for us 

   to take compassion on each others' needs. 

See that you show no lack of discretion 

   about things which are contrary to obedience. 

Though privately you may think 

    the prioress' orders, harsh ones, 

do not 
        allow this to be noticed or 
        tell anyone about it 

                (except that you may speak of it, 

                          with all humility,

                     to  the prioress herself), 

       for if you did so 

          you would be doing a great deal of harm. 

Get to know 

      what are the things in your sisters 

              which you should be sorry to see and

       those about 
              which you should sympathize with them; 

and always show your grief 

              at any notorious fault 

      which you may see in one of them. 

It is a good proof and test of our love 

   if we 

        can bear with such faults and 

        not be shocked by them. 

Others, in their turn, 
    will bear with your faults, 

which, if you include those 

    of which you are not aware, 

           must be much more numerous. 

Often 

   commend to God any sister 

          who is at fault and 

   strive for your own part 
           to practise the virtue 

       which is the opposite of her fault 

           with great perfection. 

Make determined efforts to do this 

  so that you may teach your sister 

     by your deeds 

  what perhaps she could never learn 

     by words nor gain by punishment.

The habit of performing 

    some conspicuously virtuous action 

through seeing it performed by another 

    is one which very easily takes root.

This is good advice: do not forget it. 

Oh, how true and genuine 
     will be the love of a sister 

who can bring profit to everyone 

     by sacrificing her own profit 
to that of the rest! 

    She will 

       make a great advance 
            in each of the virtues and 

       keep her Rule 
               with great perfection. 

This will be 
      a  much truer kind of friendship 

than one which uses 

      every possible loving expression 

                 (such as are not used, 

                  and must not be used, 

                  in this  house): 

                 "My life!" "My love!" "My darling!" [29] 

                   and such like things, one or another 

                  of which people are always saying. 

      Let such endearing words 
            be kept for your Spouse, 

      for you will be 

                 so often and 

                 so much 
           alone With Him 

      that you will want to make use of them all, 

      and this His Majesty permits you.

      If you use them 
           among yourselves 

      they will not move the Lord so much; 

      and, quite apart from that, 

           there is no reason why you should do so. 

     They are very effeminate; 

      and I should not like you 

            to be that, 
         or even 
            to appear to be that, 

         in any way, my daughters;

      I want you to be strong men. 

If you do all that is in you, 

  the Lord will make you so manly 

that men themselves will be amazed at you. 

And how easy is this for His Majesty, 

   Who made us out of nothing at all!

It is also a very clear sign of love

   - to try to spare others household work 

         by taking it upon oneself and also 

   - to rejoice and give great praise to the Lord 

         if you see any increase in their virtues. 

All such things, 

        quite apart from the intrinsic good they bring,

  add greatly to the peace and concord 

       which we have among ourselves, 

  as, through the goodness of God, 

       We can now see by experience. 

May His Majesty be pleased ever to increase it, 

   for it would be 

         terrible 

                      if it did not exist, and 

         very awkward

                      if, when there are so few of us, 

                we got on badly together. 

May God forbid that.

If one of you should be cross with another 

        because of some hasty word,

the matter 
       must at once be put right 

and you 
       must betake yourselves to earnest prayer. 

The same applies 

    to the harbouring of any grudge, or 

    to party strife, or 

    to the desire to be greatest, or 

    to any nice point concerning your honour.

      ( My blood seems to run cold, as I write this,

          at the very idea that this can ever happen, 

         but I know it is the chief trouble in convents. ) 

If it should happen to you, 

   consider yourselves lost. 

Just reflect and realize 

    that you have driven your Spouse 
from His home: 

    He will have to go and seek another abode, 

       since you are driving Him 
    from His own house. 

Cry aloud to His Majesty and try to put things right; 

and if frequent confessions and communions 

    do not mend them, 

you may well fear 
    that there is some Judas among you.

For the love of God, 

    let the prioress be most careful 

not to allow this to occur. 

She must put a stop to it 
   from the very outset, and, 

   if love will not suffice, 

       she must use heavy punishments, 

  for here we have the whole of the mischief 

       and the remedy. 

If you gather 

    that any of the nuns is making trouble, 

see that she is sent to some other convent and

    God will provide them with a dowry for her. 

Drive away this plague; 

     cut off the branches as well as you can; 

and, if that is not sufficient,

      pull up the roots. 

If you cannot do this, 

     shut up anyone who is guilty of such things and 

     forbid her to leave her cell; 

far better this than 

    that all the nuns should catch so incurable a plague.

Oh, what a great evil is this! 

God deliver us from a convent into which it enters: 

   I would rather our convent caught fire and 

      we were all burned alive. 

  As this is so important 

     I think I shall say a little more about it elsewhere, 

  so I will not write at greater length here, 

     except to say that,

          

       provided they treat each other equally, 

       I would rather 

           that the nuns showed 

                 a tender and affectionate love and 

                 regard for each other,

            even though there is 
                 less perfection in this 

                than in the love I have described, 

          than that there were a single note of discord 

                to be heard among them. 

May the Lord forbid this, for His own sake. 

Amen.

_____________________________________

Foot Notes: [27] Lit.: "There remains, as people say,                       no patience";           but, as the  phrase "as people say"             (which E. omits)           suggests that this was a popular phrase,             I have translated rather              more freely and picturesquely.          T. has (after "ache too"):             "and it upsets us, and so on." [28] Ternura. Lit.: 'tenderness." [29] Lit.: "My life!" "My soul!" "My good!"

~   End of Chapter VII  ~