13. Spread of the Reform
Again, it was the burning
desire for the salvation of souls that led Teresa to new action. One day a
Franciscan from the missions visited her and told her about the sad spiritual
and moral condition of people in heathen lands. Shaken, she withdrew into her
hermitage in the garden. “I cried to the Savior, I pleaded with him for the
means of winning souls for him because the evil enemy robs him of so many. I
asked him to help himself a little by my prayers, because that was all I could
offer him.” After petitioning like this for many days, the Lord appeared to her
and spoke the comforting words, “Wait a little while, my daughter, and you will
see great things.” Six months later came the fulfillment of this promise.
In the spring of the year
1567 she received the news of an upcoming visit to Spain by the Carmelite
General, Giovanni Battista Rossi (Rubeo). “This was something most unusual. The
generals of our order always have been situated in Rome. None had ever come to
Spain before.” The nun who had left her monastery and founded a new one had
reason to be afraid of the arrival of her highest superior. He had the power to
destroy her work. With the consent of the bishop of Avila who had jurisdiction
of her house, Teresa invited the General to visit. He came, and Teresa gave him
a completely candid account of the entire history of the foundation. What he saw
convinced him of the spirit that ruled in this little monastery and he was moved
to tears. It was evident that here was a perfect realization of the goal for
which he had come to Spain. He was considering a reform of the entire Order, a
return to the old traditions, but he had not risked proceeding as radically as
Teresa. King Philip II had called him to Spain to renew discipline in the
monasteries of his land. He had found little friendly reception in other places.
Now he confided his concerns to Teresa. For her part, she responded with love
and with a daughter’s trust. When he departed from Avila, he left Teresa with
permits to found additional women’s monasteries of the reform. All of these
monasteries were to be directly under the general. No provincial was to have the
right to hinder their foundation or to involve himself in their affairs. When he
returned to Madrid, Fr. Rubeo spoke enthusiastically to the king about Teresa
and her work. Philip II asked for her prayers and those of her daughters, and
was from then on the most powerful friend and protector of the reform.
After
returning to Rome, the Father General gave
the saint even more power: to found two monasteries for men according to the
Primitive Rule if she could obtain the permission of the present provincial
and that of his predecessor. This permission was obtained for her by the bishop
of Avila, who himself had been the first to express the wish for monasteries of
friars of the reform. Teresa now found herself in an unusual position. Instead
of a quiet little monastery to which she could retreat with a few selected
souls, she was now to found an entire order for men and women. “And only a poor,
unshod Carmelite was there to accomplish this, even though furnished with
permits and the best wishes, but without any means for initiating the work and
without any other support than that of the Lord....”(46)
But this support sufficed. Before long, what was most important for a monastery
of men appeared: the first friars. While she was making the first foundation for
nuns in Medina del Campo, the prior of the Carmelite monastery of the mitigated
rule there, Fr. Antonio de Heredia, energetically stood by Teresa’s side. When
she told him of her plan, he declared himself ready to be the first male
discalced Carmelite. Teresa was surprised and not absolutely happy, because she
did not fully credit him with having the strength to sustain the Primitive
Rule. However, he stayed firm in his decision. A few days later, a companion
for him appeared who was most satisfactory to the saint: a young Carmelite at
that time called John of St. Matthias, who from his early youth had lived a life
of prayer and the strictest self-denial. He had gained the permission of his
superior to follow the Primitive Rule personally. Not satisfied with
this, he was thinking of becoming a Carthusian. Teresa persuaded him, instead,
to become the living cornerstone of the Carmelite Order of the Primitive
Rule.
Some time later a little
house in Duruelo, a hamlet between Avila and Medina del Campo, was offered to
her for the planned foundation. It was in miserable condition, but neither
Teresa nor the two fathers were taken aback by it. Fr. Antonio still needed some
time to end his priorship and put all his affairs in order. In the meantime, Fr.
John joined Holy Mother to acquaint himself with the spirit and rule of life of
the reform under her personal direction. On September 20, 1568 he went to
Duruelo, having been clothed by Teresa in the habit of the reform, which she
herself had made for him. As the Holy Mother had anticipated, he divided the
single room of the pitiful little hut into two cells, an attic room into the
choir, a vestibule into a chapel where he celebrated the first Mass the next
morning. Soon he was considered a saint by the peasants in the neighborhood. On
November 27, Fr. Antonio joined him. Together they now committed themselves to
the Primitive Rule and changed their names. From then on they were called
Anthony of Jesus and John of the Cross.
A few months later the Holy
Mother could visit them and get to know their way of life. She says about this: "I came there during Lent in
the year 1569. It was morning. Father Antonio in his always cheerful mood was
sweeping the doorway to the church. “What does this mean, my father,” I said,
“and where is your self-respect?” ...”Oh, cursed be the time when I paid
attention to that,” he answered chuckling. I went into the chapel and was seized
by the spirit of fervor and poverty with which God had filled it. I was not the
only one so moved. Two merchants with whom I was friendly and who had
accompanied me from Medina del Campo looked at the house with me. They could
only weep. There were crosses and skulls everywhere. I will never forget a
little wooden cross over a holy water font to which an image of the Savior had
been glued. This image was made of simple paper; however, it flooded me with
more devotion than if it had been very valuable and beautifully made. The choir,
once an attic room, was raised in the middle so that the fathers could
comfortably pray the Office. But one still had to bow deeply when entering. At
both sides of the church, there were two little hermitages where they could only
sit or lie down and even so their heads would touch the roof. The floor was so
damp that they had to put straw on it. I learned that the fathers, instead of
going to sleep after matins, retreated to these little hermitages and meditated
there until prime. In fact, they once were praying in such recollection that
when snow fell on them through the slats in the roof, they did not notice it at
all, and returned to the choir without it occurring to them even to shake their
robes.
Duruelo was the cradle of
the male branch of the reformed Carmel. It spread vigorously
from there, always directed by the Holy Mother’s prayer and illuminating
suggestions, but nevertheless relatively independent. The humble little John of
the Cross, the great saint of the church, inspired it with the spirit. But he
was entirely a person of prayer, of penance. Others took on the external
direction. Besides Fr. Antonio, there were the enthusiastic Italians, Fr.
Mariano and Fr. Nicolás Doria. But, above all, the most faithful support for the
Holy Mother during her last years was, as she was convinced, the choice
instrument of the reform, the youthful, brilliantly gifted Fr. Jerónimo Gracián
of the Mother of God.
Teresa herself had hardly
any time for quiet monastic life after she left the peace of St. Joseph’s upon
founding the first daughter house in Medina del Campo. She was called now here,
now there, to establish new houses of the reform. Despite her always fragile
health and increasing age, she indefatigably undertook the most difficult
journeys as often as the Lord’s service required. Everywhere there were hard
battles to endure: Sometimes there were difficulties with the spiritual and
civil authorities; sometimes, the lack of a suitable house and the basic
necessities of life; sometimes, disagreements with upper class founders who made
impossible demands of the monasteries. When finally all obstacles had been
overcome and everything organized so that the true life of Carmel could begin,
she who had done it all had, without pause, to move on to new tasks. The only
consolation she had was that a new garden was blooming for the Lord to enjoy.
14. Prioress at the
Monastery of the Incarnation
While the spiritual gardens
of Mother Teresa were spreading their lovely fragrance over all of Spain, the
Monastery of the Incarnation, her former home, was in a sad state. Income had
not increased in proportion to the number of nuns, and since they were used to
living comfortably and not (as in the reformed Carmel) to finding their greatest
joy in holy poverty, discontent and slackening of spirit spread. In the year
1570, Fr. Fernández of the Order of St. Dominic came to this house. He was the
apostolic visitator entrusted by Pope Pius V with examining the disciplinary
state of monasteries in Castile. Since he had already
become thoroughly acquainted with some monasteries of the reform, the contrast
must have shocked him. He thought of a radical remedy. By the authority of his
position, he named Mother Teresa as prioress of the Monastery of the Incarnation
and ordered her to return to Avila at once to assume her position. In the midst
of her work for the reform, she now had to undertake the task that for all
intents and purposes appeared impossible. Exhorted by the Lord himself, she
declared her readiness. However, with the agreement of Fr. Fernández, she gave a
written statement that she personally would continue to follow the Primitive
Rule. One can imagine the vehement indignation of the nuns who were to have
a prioress sent to them one not elected by them a sister of theirs who had left
them eight years earlier and whom they considered as an adventuress, a
mischief-maker. The storm broke as the provincial led her into the house. Fr.
Angel de Salazar could not make himself heard in the noisy gathering. The “Te
Deum” that he intoned was drowned out by the sounds of indignation. Teresa’s
goodness and humility finally brought about enough quiet for the sisters to go
to their cells and to tolerate her presence in the house.
They were saving the
decisive declarations for the first chapter meeting. But how amazed they were
when they entered the chapter room at the sound of the bell to see in the
prioress’ seat the statue of our dear Lady, the Queen of Carmel, with the keys
to the monastery in her hands and the new prioress at her feet. Their hearts
were conquered even before Teresa began to speak and in her indisputably loving
manner presented to them how she conceived of and intended to conduct her
office. In a short time, under her wise and temperate direction, above all by
the influence of her character and conduct, the spirit of the house was renewed.
Her greatest support in this was Fr. John of the Cross, whom she called to Avila
as confessor for the monastery.
This time of greatest
expenditure of energy when Teresa, along with being prioress of the Monastery of
the Incarnation, retained the spiritual direction of her eight reformed
monasteries, was also a time of the greatest attestation of grace. At that time
she had a vision which she herself described as a “spiritual marriage.” On
November 18, 1572, the Lord appeared to her during Holy Communion. “He offered
me his right hand and spoke, ‘See this nail. It is the sign of our union. From
this day on you are my bride. Up to now you had not earned it. But now you will
not only see me as your Creator, your King, your God, but from now on you will
care for my honor as my true bride. My honor is yours; your glory is mine.’”
From that moment on, she found herself united blissfully with the Lord, a union
which remained with her for the entire last decade of her life, her own life
mortified, “full of the inexpressible joy of having found her true rest, and of
the sense that Jesus Christ was living in her.”(47)
She characterized as the first result of this union “such a complete
forgetfulness of self that it truly seems as if this soul had lost its own
being. It no longer recognizes itself. It no longer thinks about heaven for
itself, about life, about honor. The only thing she cares about any longer is
the honor of God.” The second result is an inner desire for suffering, a desire,
however, that no longer disturbs her soul as earlier. She desires with such
fervor that God’s will be fulfilled in her that everything which pleases the
divine Master seems good to her. If he wants her to suffer, she is happy; if he
does not, his will be done.
But the following surprised
me the most. This soul whose life has been martyrdom, because of her strong
desire to enjoy the vision of God, has now become so consumed by the wish to
serve him, to glorify his name, and to be useful to other souls that, far from
wishing to die, she would like to live for many years in the greatest
suffering....
In this soul there is no
more interior pain and no more dryness, but only a sweet and constant joy.
Should she for a short time be less attentive to the presence of God, he himself
immediately awakens her. He works to bring her to complete perfection and
imparts his doctrines in a completely hidden way in the midst of such a deep
peace that it reminds me of the building of Solomon’s temple. Actually, the soul
becomes the temple of God where only God alone and the
soul mutually delight in each other in greatest quiet.
15. Doing Battle for Her
Life’s Work
The greatest grace that can
befall a soul was probably necessary to strengthen the saint for the storm that
was soon to break over the reform. Even during her term as prioress, she had to
resume her journeys of foundation and leave a vicaress in charge in Avila. At
the end of her years as prioress it was only with some effort that she stopped
the nuns from re-electing her. Those who had so struggled against her assuming
the position clung to her with such great love. Her humility and goodness, her
superior intelligence and wise moderation in this case had been able to bridge
the rift between the “calced” and the “discalced.” Her spiritual sons were not
so lucky. They had founded new monasteries in addition to the two for which the
general of the Order, Fr. Rubeo, had previously given Teresa authorization. They
had the permission of the apostolic visitator from Andalusia, Fr. Vargas, but no
arrangement with the Order’s superiors. Their extraordinary penances (which
often caused the saint herself concern) and their zeal soon aroused the
admiration of the people. This, along with the evident preference for the
monasteries of the reform on the part of the apostolic visitator, made those not
of the reform fear they themselves would soon be pushed entirely into the
background, even that the reform might be imposed on the entire Order. Their
envoys turned the general in Rome completely against the discalced as
disobedient and as agitators. To suppress their “revolt,” Fr. Tostado, a
Portuguese Carmelite with special authority, was sent to Spain. A clash between
the two branches of the Order ensued, which must have filled the heart of the
humble and peace-loving Holy Mother with the greatest pain. In addition, it
appeared that her entire work was threatened. She herself was called “a
gadabout” by the new papal nuncio in Spain, “disobedient, ambitious, who
presumes to teach others like a doctor of the church despite the prohibition of
Saint Paul.” She was ordered to choose one of the reformed monasteries as her
permanent residence and to make no further trips. How grateful she would have
been for the quiet in the monastery of Toledo which Fr. Gracián suggested to
her, had there not been such a hostile design behind the command! All the
monasteries of the reform were prohibited from taking in novices, condemning
them to extinction. Her beloved sons were reviled and persecuted. Fr. John of
the Cross, who had always kept himself far from all conflict, was even secretly
abducted and kept in humiliating confinement in the monastery of the “calced” in
Toledo. He was cruelly abused until the Blessed Virgin, his protectress since
childhood, miraculously freed him. In this storm that finally made everyone lose
courage, the Holy Mother alone stood erect. Together with her daughters, she
stormed heaven. She was indefatigable in encouraging her sons with letters and
advice, in calling her friends for help, in presenting the true circumstances to
the Father. General who had once been so good to her, in appealing for
protection from her most powerful patron, the king. And finally she arrived at
the solution that she recommended as the only possible one: the complete
separation of the calced from the discalced Carmelites into two provinces. The
Congregation of Religious in Rome had been occupied with the unfortunate
conflict for a long time. A well- informed cardinal, whom Pope Gregory XIII
questioned concerning the state of affairs, responded, “The Congregation has
thoroughly investigated all the complaints of the Carmelites of the Mitigated
Rule. It comes down to the following: Those with the Mitigated Rule
fear that the reform will finally reform them also.” The pope then decided that
the monasteries of Carmelite friars and nuns of the reform were to constitute a
province of their own under a provincial chosen by them. A brief dated June 27,
1580 announced this decision. In March of 1581, the chapter of Alcalá elected
Fr. Jerónimo Gracián as its first provincial in accordance with the wishes of
the Holy Mother.
16. The End
Teresa greeted the end of
the years of suffering with overflowing thanks. “God alone knew in full about
the bitterness, and now only he alone knows of the boundless joy that fills my
soul, as I see the end of these many torments. I wish the whole world would
thank God with me! Now we are all at peace, calced and discalced Carmelites, and
nothing is to stop us from serving God. Now then, my brothers and sisters, let
us hurry to offer ourselves up for the honor of the divine Master who has heard
our prayers so well.” During the short span of time still given to her, she
herself sacrificed her final strength for new journeys to make foundations. The
erection of the monastery in Burgos, the last one that she brought to life, cost
her much effort and time. She had left Avila on January 2, 1582 to go there. It
was July before she could begin the trip home, but she was not to reach the
desired goal any more. After she had visited a number of other monasteries of
the nuns, Fr. Antonio of Jesus brought her to Alba to comply with a wish of the
Duchess María Henríquez, the great patroness of that monastery. Completely
exhausted, Teresa arrived on September 20. According to a number of witnesses,
she had predicted some years earlier that she would die at this place and at
this time. Even though the attending physician saw her condition as hopeless,
she continued to take part in all the monastic exercises until September 29.
Then she had to lie down. On October 2, in accordance with her wish, Fr. Antonio
heard her last confession. On the third she requested Viaticum. An eyewitness
gave this report: “At the moment when the Blessed Sacrament was brought into her
cell, the Holy Mother raised herself without anyone’s help and got on her knees.
She would even have gotten out of her bed if she had not been prevented. Her
expression was very beautiful and radiated divine love. With a lively expression
of joy and piety, she spoke such exalted divine words to the Lord that we were
all filled with great devotion.” During the day she repeated again and again the
words from the “Miserere” (Psalm 51): “Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, no
despicies” (a broken and contrite heart, God, you will not despise). In the
evening she requested to be anointed. Concerning her last day, October 4, we
again have an eyewitness account by Sr. María of St. Francis:
"On the morning of the feast
of St. Francis, at about 7 o’clock, our Holy Mother turned on her side toward the nuns, a crucifix in her
hand, her expression more beautiful, more glowing, than I had ever seen it
during her life. I do not know how her wrinkles disappeared, since the Holy
Mother, in view of her great age and her continual suffering, had very deep
ones. She remained in this position in prayer full of deep peace and great
repose. Occasionally she gave some outward sign of surprise or amazement. But
everything proceeded in great repose. It seemed as if she were hearing a voice
which she answered. Her facial expression was so wondrously changed that it
looked like a celestial body to us. Thus immersed in prayer, happy and smiling,
she went out of this world into eternal life."
The wondrous events that
occurred at the Saint’s burial, the incorrupt state of her body that was
determined by repeated disinterments, the numerous miracles that she worked
during her life and then really in earnest after her death, the enthusiastic
devotion of the entire Spanish people for their saint all of this led to the
initiation of the investigations preparatory to her canonization, already in the
year 1595. Paul V declared her blessed in a brief on April 24, 1614. Her
canonization by Gregory XV followed on March 22, 1622. Her feast day was
designated as October 15, because the ten days after her death were dropped
(October 5-14, 1582) due to the Gregorian calendar reform.
Luis de León(48)
said of Teresa: “I neither saw nor knew the saint during her lifetime. But
today, albeit she is in heaven, I know her and see her in her two living
reflections, that is, in her daughters and in her writings....” Actually, there
are few saints as humanly near to us as our Holy Mother. Her writings, which she
penned as they came to her, in obedience to the order of her confessor, wedged
between all of her burdens and work, serve as classical masterpieces of Spanish
literature. In incomparably clear, simple and sincere language they tell of the
wonders of grace that God worked in a chosen soul. They tell of the
indefatigable efforts of a woman with the daring and strength of a man,
revealing natural intelligence and heavenly wisdom, a deep knowledge of human
nature and a rich spirit’s innate sense of humor, the infinite love of a heart
tender as a bride’s and kind as a mother’s. The great family of religious(49)
that she founded, all who have been given the enormous grace of being called her
sons and daughters, look up with thankful love to their Holy Mother and have no
other desire than to be filled by her spirit, to walk hand in hand with her the
way of perfection to its goal.
++++++++++++++++++
Life and Work of St. Teresa of Jesus
1. [In fact, recent studies have shown that Teresa was of
Jewish ancestry; see Teofanes Egido, “The Historical Setting of St. Teresa’s
Life,” Carmelite Studies 1 (1980): 122-182. Throughout this essay, Edith
Stein writes in light of the historical data available to her at the time. Some
minor corrections (of dates, etc.) have been inserted into the text of this
translation, but the basic presentation remains as she wrote it. Tr.]
2. [According to recent research, the dedication of the chapel
of the Monastery of the Incarnation took place in the same year (1515) as
Teresa’s birth, but not on the same day; see Efrén de la Madre de Dios and Otger
Steggink, Tiempo y Vida de Santa Teresa, 2d ed. (Madrid: Biblioteca de
Autores Cristianos, 1977), pp. 22-25, 90. Tr.]
3. Throughout this essay, Edith Stein quotes from a
comparatively free German translation of Teresa’s works available to her, and
ordinarily without references. Here, for the convenience of the reader, we have
used the ICS translations of the corresponding passages, with appropriate
references, whenever these could be located and did not substantially
alter Edith Stein’s line of thought or the meaning of the quotation in German.
These texts may be found in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila,
trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez, vols. 1-3 (Washington, DC: ICS
Publications, 1976- 1985). The following system of abbreviations is used:
Foundations = Book of Foundations; Life = Book of Her Life; IC = Interior
Castle; Way = Way of Perfection; Testimonies = Spiritual Testimonies. For
the first four works, the Arabic numerals indicate the chapter and section
number from which the quotation was taken. The Interior Castle is also
divided into seven “dwelling places,” indicated by a Roman numeral. Thus a
passage marked “IC, 3, 2, 1” would be taken from the first section of the
second chapter in the third “dwelling place” of the Interior Castle. Tr.]
4. According to the saint. Fourteen in the latest research.
[Ed.]
5. In particular in her Life, Way of Perfection, and
Interior Castle. The references cited so far are from her Life.
However, it is recommended that the reader who has not yet dealt with spiritual
writings begin with the Way of Perfection. The presentation of the Our
Father contained in it is a model example of contemplative prayer.
6. Oettingen-Spieberg, Geschichte der hl. Teresia
[Biography of St Teresa], Regensberg: Habbel, vol. I, p. 313f.
7. Probably an error by Edith Stein. The provincial at that
time was Fr. Gregorio Fernández (1559-1561). Fr. Angel de Salazar was prior in
Avila in 1541. He was provincial from 1551-1553. [Ed.]
8. It is said that our Holy Mother at first wore sandals that
left the feet uncovered, as our friars still do today. It was only when her
dainty foot was admired once during a trip that she introduced hempen sandals
called “alpargatas.” [Ed.]
9. See note 8. [Ed.]
10. After she had discovered and tested the most appropriate
regimen in living with her daughters, she wrote her “constitutions,” which
except for a few minor changes today continue to contain the valid rules of her
order. They are contained in her writings. [See Collected Works of St.
Teresa, vol. 3, pp. 319-333. Tr.]
11. See note 8. [Ed.]
12. Interior Castle, seventh dwelling places, chap. 3.
[The text does not appear in precisely this form in the ICS translation. Tr.]
13. A learned Augustinian who published the first printed
edition of Teresa’s writings (1588).
14. At her death Teresa left behind fourteen male and sixteen
female monasteries of the reform. Soon thereafter the Order spread to France.
Today it is established all over the world. A great number of lay people are
united with it by the Secular Order and the Scapular Fraternity. The Teresian
Prayer Organization (at the Carmelite Monastery in Würzburg) assembles everyone
who wants to intercede for the needs of the Holy Church and the Holy Father into
a great prayer army, and lets them participate in all the good works of the
Carmelite order.
No comments:
Post a Comment