El 15 de octubre es la fiesta conmemorativa de Santa Teresa de Avila (Teresa de Jesus), la primera doctora de la Iglesia. We celebrate the memorial feast of St. Teresa of Avila, a.k.a. St. Teresa of Jesus, the first female Doctor of the Church), on October 15.
Santa Teresa dijo, "God alone is enough "(solo Dios basta) in her famous prayer,
"Nada te turbe"(let nothing
disturb you). This echoes what is said in Isaiah 45:5, " Yo soy el Señor y no hay otro;
fuera de mí no hay Dios”( I am the Lord
and there is no other, there is no God besides me).
This saying of St. Teresa of Avila is also echoed in
what St. Ignatius of Loyola famously said in his Sucipe Prayer, "Tu amor y tu gracia, que ésta me basta"(your
love and grace, that is enough for me).
¡Sólo Dios, de hecho! ¡Sólo Dios basta! ¡Sólo Su
amor y gracia bastan!
With this, nada me faltará (nothing lacks,
therefore, I shall not want)(Psalm 23:1). Por lo tanto, ¡Después de todo, Dios
es amor! ¿Qué más necesitamos
entonces? ¡Sólo Dios, de hecho! Sólo necesito a Dios, mi Señor, mi Buen
Pastor.
*****
St. Teresa of Avila (Santa Teresa de Jesús) sure
understood these words of Jesus, spoken at the beginning of his Last Supper
Discourse, to her heart: ” No
se turbe vuestro corazón; creéis en Dios, creed también en mí”( Do
not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me)(John
14:1). And, these words of Jesus to his disciples on the night before his death
must have resonated throughout her heart, mind, soul, and body, when she faced the
Inquisition and persecutory attacks against her and had to endure suffering.
So, these words of Jesus were reflected in her prayer, known as “Nada te Turbe”(Let Nothing Disturb You),
during very difficult time in her life.
Nada te turbe, Nada te espante, Todo se pasa, Dios no se muda,
La paciencia, Todo lo alcanza; Quien a Dios tiene Nada le falta: Sólo Dios basta.
Eleva el pensamiento, al cielo sube, por nada te acongojes, Nada te turbe.
A Jesucristo sigue con pecho grande, y, venga lo que venga, Nada te espante.
¿Ves la gloria del mundo? Es gloria vana; nada tiene de estable,Todo se pasa.
Let nothing disturb you, let
nothing frighten you, all things are passing away: God never changes.
Patience obtains all things;
whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.
Raise your thoughts, look up to
Heaven, do not torment yourself about anything, let nothing trouble you.
Follow Jesus Christ with all
your heart and whatever happens, let nothing frighten you.
Do you see the glory of the
world? It is a vain glory; there is nothing stable about it, it all passes.
Aspire to what is heavenly, it
lasts forever; faithful and rich in promises, God does not change.
Love Him as He deserves, He is
immense Goodness; but there is no true love without patience.
Let confidence and a lively
Faith uphold the soul; he who believes and hopes obtains all things.
Even if he is attacked by all
of hell, he who possesses God will foil its attacks.
Even if he is abandoned and
suffers crosses and misfortunes, if God is his treasure, he will want for
nothing.
Away with you, then, worldly
goods; away with you, vain happiness; even if you lose all, God alone suffices.
And, there is a similarity of the above poetic prayer of St. Teresa of Avila to the below prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, known as “Suscipe Prayer” in his Spiritual Exercises (Ejercicios espirituales).
mi memoria, mi entendimiento y toda
mi voluntad,
todo mi haber y mi poseer.
a Ti, Señor, lo torno;
todo es tuyo; dispón de ello
conforme a tu voluntad.
Dame tu amor y gracia, que esto me
basta.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given it (all) to me.
To you, Lord, I return it (all).
Everything is yours; do with it
what you will.
Give me only your love and your
grace,
that is enough for me.
Because of her acts out of sense of justice and
fidelity to reform the Carmelites order from within, she made enemies even
within the Church. Imagine what it would be like to find yourself being accused
and attacked not only by those who are outside of your close faith circle but
those within, those who are close to you, for doing what is just for the faith
community. So, Teresa had to suffer tremendously and for a long time. In fact,
it is how she let her steadfast faith in Christ work for her resilience from
within and with God’s grace.
As St. Ignatius of Loyola composed his Spiritual
Exercises, which includes the aforementioned “Suscipe Prayer”, out of his faith-driven
coping with distress in the Manresa cave, St. Teresa of Avila wrote “The Interior Castile” amidst her prolonging
distress.
According to her “The Interior Castle”, it is an exodus journey, as well as a journey
of soul’s growth toward its perfection, through distress. On this journey
toward perfection, we go through Seven Mansions in the Interior Castile, which
is a metaphor of soul itself. To succeed
on this journey, umility is a key not only to cope with distress but also to
let the soul grow through it. It is about letting go of our tendency to rely on
ourselves first and accepting God’s grace more as we come to embracing God more. Thus, the growth of the soul through distress
is consummated with the full union with God in the Seventh Mansions. And in “The Interior Castle”, St. Teresa of
Avila describes this full union of our souls with God through a metaphor of
matrimonial union. This is the state of perfection and complete freedom –
freedom from Satan’s attacks and anxieties. Is, indeed, the state of peace,
which Jesus has promised, as the Prince of Peace.
Teresa always sought a refuge amidst distress in
facing persecutory attacks, not only externally by those who oppose her efforts
to reform the Carmelites but also internally by various assaults of evil
spirits. And, one day, during her prayer, she had a very moving encounter with Jesus
when she gazed upon an Ecce Homo
statue. So began her journey toward the
perfection, prompted by this encounter of hers with Jesus. The journey let her
out of her human tendency to rely on herself or something other than God to
accept His grace and to embrace God fully.
Teresa wrote in the Sixth Mansions of the Interior
Castle, to prepare soul for its full union with Christ in the Seventh Mansions:
The
soul is now determined to take no other Bridegroom than our Lord, but He
disregards its desires for its speedy espousals, wishing that these longings
should become still more vehement and that this good, which far excels all
other benefits, should be purchased at some cost to itself.
And
although for so great a gain all that we must endure is but a poor price to pay,
I assure you, daughters, that this pledge of what is in store for us is needed
to inspire us with courage to bear our
crosses.
O
My God, how many troubles both interior and exterior must one suffer before
entering the seventh mansions! Sometimes, while pondering over this I fear
that, were they known beforehand, human infirmity could scarcely bear the
thought nor resolve to encounter them, however great might appear the gain. If,
however, the soul has already reached the seventh mansions, it fears nothing:
boldly undertaking to suffer all things for God, it gathers strength from its
almost union with Him. (p.68 - in the Sixth Mansions)
Note that it is a very challenging journey to attain
peace and freedom from all the distress – to be one with Christ in the Seventh
Mansions. We must ensure tribulations, as envisioned in the Book of Revelation.
We must ensure great tribulations to be at the heavenly wedding banquet of the
Lamb at the eschaton.
In the section of the Sixth Mansions, Teresa wrote that self-abasement for humility is a key to endure the journey through tribulations towards the perfection in the union with Christ in the Seventh Mansions. In the below excerpts, she wants to make sure graces (favors) are from God so that the journey will not derail from the will of God. This is similar to what St. Ignatius of Loyola’s spiritual wisdom to be careful of what comes to us during “consolation” phase.
If the soul receives favours and caresses from our Lord, let it examine carefully whether it rates itself more highly in consequence; unless self-abasement increases with God’s expressions of love, they do not come from the Holy Spirit. Inevitably, when they are divine, the greater the favours, the less the soul esteems itself and the more keenly it remembers its sins. It becomes more oblivious of self-interest: the will and memory grow more fervent in seeking solely God’s honour with no thought of self. It also becomes unceasingly careful not to deviate deliberately from the will of God and feels a keener conviction that instead of meriting such favours, it deserves hell. P. 82
If grace drives you back to your old self-interest,
it is a red flag. Teresa reminds us that true grace from God through the Holy
Spirit promotes self-abasement to prepare us to fully embrace nothing but God,
solo Dios, in our fully union with Him in the Seventh Mansions for perfection.
In the below excerpts, Teresa reminds us to shut the
noise in order to keep our ears to listen to and stay tuned with God’s voice to
stay on course. She also juxtaposes this to staying in light, recalling how
Joshua won his battle. And, Teresa reminds that we go through battles against
evil attacks to meet Christ for our union in the Seventh Mansions, echoed in
the eschatological vision in Revelation 19, where all these faithful, who
endured all the tribulations and won the battles with Satan and his
collaborators, enjoy the wedding banquet. Also, she tells this truth: It is God the Creator who governs the
soul, which she metaphorically describes as the Interior Castle.
I
believe it would be easier for a person with very keen ears to avoid hearing a
loud voice, for he could occupy his thoughts and mind in other things. Not so
here; the soul can do nothing, nor has it ears to stop, nor power to think of
aught but what is said to it. For He Who could stay the sun on its course (at
the prayer of Josue, I believe) can so quiet the faculties and the interior of
the spirit as to make it perceive that another and a stronger Lord than itself
governs this castle; it is thus affected with profound devotion and humility,
seeing that it cannot but listen. May the divine Majesty vouchsafe that,
forgetting ourselves, our only aim may be to please Him, as I said. Amen. P 82
Here, the prayer of Josue is the Book of Jashar,
cited in Joshua 10:12-13
Why Teresa refers to this battle hymn that Joshua
cited? It is because the journey to the matrimonial union with Christ in the
Seventh Mansions is riddled with battles with evil forces of darkness. This is as we must persevere the great
tribulations, having washed our garments washed white by the blood of the Lamb,
before reaching the heavenly wedding feast, as envisioned in the Book of
Revelation, especially from chapter 6 to chapter 19.
Finally
in the Seventh Mansions, “Todo se pasa, Dios
no se muda” in “Nada te Turbe”’s
first stanza is reflected in the below excerpts:
A
king resides in his palace; many wars and disasters take place in his kingdom
but he remains on his throne. In the same way, though tumults and wild beasts
rage with great uproar in the other mansions, yet nothing of this enters the
seventh mansions, nor drives the soul from it. Although the mind regrets these
troubles, they do not disturb it nor rob it of its peace, for the passions are
too subdued to dare to enter here where they would only suffer still further
defeat. Though the whole body is in pain, yet the head, if it be sound, does
not suffer with it. I smile at these comparisons—they do not please me—but I
can find no others. Think what you will about it—I have told you the truth. p123
In Chapter 4 of the section of the Seventh Mansions,
Teresa wrote that the matrimonial union with God (the spiritual marriage) as the
ultimate fruit of God’s grace (favor) to us with these words:
Oh,
my sisters, how forgetful of her ease, how unmindful of honours, and how far
from seeking men’s esteem should she be whose soul God thus chooses for His
special dwelling-place! For if her mind is fixed on Him, as it ought to be, she
must needs forget herself: all her thoughts are bent on how to please Him
better and when and how she can show the love she bears Him.
This is the end and aim of prayer, my daughters; this is the reason of the spiritual marriage whose children are always good works. Works are the unmistakable sign which shows these favours come from God, as I told you. It will do me little good to be deeply recollected when alone, making acts of the virtues, planning and promising to do wonders in God’s service, if afterwards, when occasion offers, I do just the opposite. I did wrong in saying, ‘It will do me little good,’ for all the time we spend with God does us great good. Though afterwards we may weakly fail to perform our good intentions, yet some time or other His Majesty will find a way for us to practise them although perhaps much to our regret. Thus when He sees a soul very cowardly, He often sends it some great affliction, much against its will, and brings it through this trial with profit to itself, When the soul has learnt this, it is less timid in offering itself to Him. ......Do you know what it is to be truly spiritual? It is for men to make themselves the slaves of God—branded with His mark, which is the cross. Since they have given Him their freedom, He can sell them as slaves to the whole world, as He was, which would be doing them no wrong but the greatest favour. Unless you make up your minds to this, never expect to make much progress, for as I said humility is the foundation of the whole building and unless you are truly humble, our Lord, for your own sake, will never permit you to rear it very high lest it should fall to the ground. p.129
Just as he wants us to remain on the right path and
not get lost in tribulations, Jesus
gives us the eschatological glorious vision of our eternal destiny on the
pilgrimage. To successfully complete this pilgrimage journey from the First
Mansions to the Seventh Mansions as in St. Teresa of Avila’s “The Interior Castle”, we must deny
ourselves, becoming totally obedient to God’s will as a salve is so to his or
her master. Namely, all the distress in life shall led us to the heavenly
wedding banquet, before finally ushered into the New Eden.
Keeping such a vision boosts our endurance and the
abilities to persevere, withstanding temptations to give up when suffering
becomes greater. For the same reason, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to let
them witness the glorious vision of his Transfiguration after foretelling his
death and resurrection – in the hope that the vision of the Transfiguration
would keep these disciples from falling in the darkness of despair in regard to
his death.
Just as a popular cliché of saying, “There is no
tunnel without its end”, means, there is no suffering without its end. And, the
end of the dark tunnel of tribulations is, ultimately, the magnificently
glorious eschatological vision of our matrimonial union with Christ, the Lamb,
in Revelation 19:6-9, followed by the vision of the New Eden in Revelation
21-22. St. Teresa’s vision of the exodus
journey from the state of imperfection with sinfulness in the First Mansions to
the state of perfection, symbolized with the matrimonial union with Christ in
the Seventh Mansions in “The Interior
Castle”, can be juxtaposed to the journey from Inferno to Paradiso via Purgatorio in Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”( Divina Commedia),
as well as James Fowler’s psychospiritual theory of faith development.
After all, St. Teresa of Avila is not only a
reformer of the Church, along with St. John of the Cross and St. Ignatius of
Loyola, from within, countering the Protestant Reformation movement but also a
reformer of human souls for the perfection, through her excellent allegory, “The Interior Castle”, an outgrowth of
her own coping with distress. Throughout the soul’s journey toward its
perfection in its full union with Christ in the Seventh Mansions of the
Interior Castle, Teresa’s “Nada te Turbe”
prayer resonates as a driving force forward.
Note: The above cited excerpts from St. Teresa of
Avila’s “The Interior Castle” are
from its 1921 edition, published by Thomas Baker, London, with Nihil Obstat
from Dom Michael Barrett, O.S.B.
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