. CHAPTER 21 The Way of Perfection Describes the great importance - of setting out upon the practice of prayer with firm resolution and - of heeding no difficulties put in the way by the devil. . |
Do not be dismayed, daughters,
at the number of things
which you have to consider
before setting out on this Divine journey,
which is the royal road to Heaven. [77]
which is the royal road to Heaven. [77]
By taking this road
we gain such precious treasures
that it is no wonder
if the cost seems to us a high one.
The time will come
when we shall realize
that all we have paid has been
nothing at all
by comparison
with the greatness of our prize.
Let us now return to those
who
wish to travel on this road,
and
will not halt until they reach their goal,
which is the place
where they can drink
of this water of life.
Although in some book or other
--in several, in fact--
I have read
what a good thing it is
to begin in this way,
I do not think anything will be lost
if I speak of it here.
As I say, it is most important-
-all-important, indeed--
that they should begin well
by making an earnest and
most determined resolve [78]
not to halt until they reach their goal
whatever may come,
whatever may happen to them,
however hard they may have to labour,
whoever may complain of them,
whether they
reach their goal
or
die on the road
or
have no heart to confront the trials
which they meet,
whether the very world dissolves
before them.
Yet again and again people will say to us:
"It is dangerous",
"So-and-so was lost through doing this",
"Someone else got into wrong ways",
"Some other person,
who was always praying,
fell just the same",
"It is bad for virtue",
"It is not meant for women;
it may lead them into delusions",
"They would do better to stick
to their spinning",
"These subtleties are of no use to them",
"It is quite enough for them to say
their Pater Noster and Ave Maria."
With this last remark, sisters,
I quite agree.
Of course it is enough!
It is always a great thing
to base your prayer
on prayers which were uttered
by the very lips of the Lord.
People are quite right to say this,
and,
were it not for
- our great weakness and
- the lukewarmness of our devotion,
there would be no need
for any other systems of prayer
or
for any other books at all.
I am speaking to souls
who are unable to recollect themselves
by meditating upon other mysteries,
and
who think they need special methods
of prayer;
some people have such ingenious minds [79]
that nothing is good enough for them!
So I think I will start
to lay down some rules
for each part of our prayer--
beginning,
middle and
end --
although I shall not spend long
on the higher stages.
They cannot take books from you, and,
if you are studious and humble,
you need nothing more.
I have always been fond of
the words of the Gospels and
have found more recollection in them
than in the most carefully planned books
--especially books of which the authors
were not fully approved,
and which I never wanted to read.
If I keep close to this Master of wisdom,
He may perhaps give me
some thoughts [80]
which will help you.
I do not say
that I will explain these Divine prayers,
for
- that I should not presume to do, and
- there are a great many explanations
of them already.
Even were there none,
it would be ridiculous for me
to attempt any.
But I will write down a few thoughts
on the words of the Pater Noster;
for sometimes,
when we are most anxious
to nurture our devotion,
consulting a great many books will kill it.
When a master is himself giving a lesson,
he
- treats his pupil kindly and
- likes him to enjoy being taught and
- does his utmost to help him learn.
Just so will this heavenly Master do with us.
Pay no heed, then, to anyone
who
tries to frighten you
or
depicts to you
the perils of the way.
What a strange idea
that one could ever expect
to travel on a road
infested by thieves,
for the purpose of
gaining some great treasure,
without running into danger!
Worldly people like to take life peaceably;
but they will deny themselves sleep,
perhaps for nights on end,
in order to gain a farthing's profit,
and
they will leave you no peace
either of body or
of soul.
If, when you
~ are on the way
- to gaining this treasure, or
- to taking it by force
(as the Lord says the violent do)
and
~ are travelling by this royal road
--this safe road trodden
by our King and
by His elect and His saints--
if even then they
tell you it is full of danger and
make you so afraid,
what will be the dangers encountered
by those who think they will be able
to gain this treasure and
yet are not on the road to it?
Oh, my daughters,
how incomparably greater
must be the risks they run!
And yet they have no idea of this
until they fall headlong
into some real danger.
Having perhaps no one to help them,
they lose this water altogether, and
drink
neither much nor little of it,
either from a pool
or from a stream.
How do you suppose they can do
without a drop of this water and
yet travel along a road on which
there are so many adversaries to fight?
Of course, sooner or later,
they will die of thirst;
for we must all journey to this fountain,
my daughters,
whether we will or no,
though we may not all do so
in the same way.
Take my advice, then, and
let none mislead you
by showing you any other road
than that of prayer.
I am not now discussing
whether or no everyone must practise
mental or vocal prayer;
but I do say
that you yourselves require both.
For prayer is the duty of religious.
If anyone tells you it is dangerous,
- look upon that person himself
as your principal danger and
- flee from his company.
Do not forget this,
for it is advice
that you may possibly need.
It will be dangerous for you
if you do not possess humility and
the other virtues;
but God forbid
that the way of prayer
should be a way of danger!
This fear seems to have been invented
by the devil,
who has apparently been very clever
in bringing about the fall of some
who practise prayer.
See how blind the world is!
It never thinks of all the thousands
who have fallen into
heresies and
other great evils
through
yielding to distractions and
not practising prayer.
As against these multitudes
there are a few
who did practise prayer and
whom the devil
has been successful enough
at his own trade
to cause to fall:
in doing this he has also caused some
to be very much afraid
of virtuous practices.
Let those
who make use of this pretext
to absolve themselves
from such practices
take heed,
for in order to save themselves from evil
they are fleeing from good.
I have never heard of
such a wicked invention;
it must indeed come from the devil.
Oh, my Lord, defend Thyself.
See how Thy words are being misunderstood.
Permit no such weakness in Thy servants.
There is one great blessing--
you will always find a few people
ready to help you.
For it is a characteristic
of the true servant of God,
to whom His Majesty has given light
to follow the true path,
that, when beset by these fears,
his desire not to stop,
(his desire to continue)
only increases.
He sees clearly
whence the devil's blows are coming,
but he
parries each blow and
breaks his adversary's head.
The anger
which this arouses in the devil
is greater than all the satisfaction
which he receives from the pleasures
given him by others.
When, in troublous times, he has
sown his tares, and
seems to be
leading men everywhere in his train,
half-blinded, and
[deceiving them into] believing
themselves to be zealous for the right,
God raises up someone to
open their eyes and
bid them look at the fog with which
the devil has obscured their path.
(How great God is!
To think that just one man,
or perhaps two,
can do more by telling the truth
than can a great many men all together!)
And then they gradually begin
to see the path again and
God gives them courage.
If people say there is danger in prayer,
this servant of God,
by his deeds
if not by his words,
tries to make them realize
what a good thing it is.
If they say
that frequent communion is inadvisable,
he only practises it the more.
So, because just one or two are
fearlessly following the better path,
the Lord gradually regains what He had lost.
Cease troubling about these fears,
then, sisters;
and
never pay heed to such matters
of popular opinion.
This is no time for believing everyone;
believe only those
whom you see modeling their lives
on the life of Christ.
Endeavour always to
- have a good conscience;
- practise humility;
- despise all worldly things; and
- believe firmly in the teaching
of our Holy Mother [the Roman] Church.
You may then be quite sure
that you are on a [very] good road.
Cease, as I have said,
to have fear where no fear is;
if any one attempts to frighten you,
point out the road to him in all humility.
Tell him
- that you have a Rule
which commands you, as it does,
to pray without ceasing, and
- that that rule you must keep.
If they tell you
that you should practise
only vocal prayer,
ask whether your mind and heart
ought not to be in what you say.
If they answer "Yes"
--and they cannot do otherwise--
you see they are admitting
that you are bound to practice
mental prayer,
mental prayer,
and
even contemplation,
even contemplation,
if God should grant it you.
[Blessed be He for ever.]
__________________
. Foot Notes: [77] "Do not be surprised, daughters, for this is the royal road (camino real) to Heaven." A more idiomatic translation of camino real would be "king's highway". [78] Lit.: "determined determination": this doubling of words is not uncommon in St. Teresa. [79] Lit.: "are such ingenious geniuses." [80] V.: alguna consideracion: the use of the singular form in a plural sense, with the shade of meaning which might be conveyed by "some occasional thoughts," is common in Spanish. E. uses one of St. Teresa's characteristic diminutives (see Vol. 1, p. xxi) alguna consideracioncita-- "some (occasional) trifling thoughts." . |
| . End of Chapter 21 The Way of Perfection . |
