Exclamations, Or Meditations of The Soul on Its God Exclamation 10 S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel St. Teresa of Avila ░░░░░░░░░░░░ "Written By The Holy Mother Teresa Of Jesus On Different Occasions, According To The Devotion Imparted To Her By Our Lord After Holy ComMunion. A.D. 1569." ░░░░░░░░░░░░ From the Book, "Minor Works Of St. Teresa Conceptions Of The Love Of God Exclamations, Maxims And Poems" |
Exclamations, Or Meditations of The Soul on Its God Exclamation 10 |
Exclamation X
1.
O God of my soul !
How eager are we to offend Thee,
yet how far more eager
art Thou to forgive us !
Why, Lord,
are we so foolishly presumptuous,
unless because,
knowing Thy great mercy,
we forget the strictness of Thy justice ?
"The pains of death
have encompassed me." [1]
Alas, alas, alas !
What a terrible evil is sin,
which caused a death of such agony
to God Himself !
How Thy tormentors surround Thee still,
my God !
Where canst Thou turn
to be free from them ?
From every quarter
they deal Thee mortal blows.
2.
Christians,
it is time
to defend your King
and
to rally round Him
in His utter abandonment:
Few are His faithful subjects,
and
many the followers of Lucifer.
Worst of all,
His public friends betray Him secretly,
so that there is hardly one
whom He can trust.
3.
O true Friend,
how ill such traitors requite Thee !
Weep, all faithful Christians,
weep with your God,
Who shed tears of pity
not for Lazarus alone, [2]
but for those also
who would never wish
to rise to life,
though He called them forth.
4.
O my supreme Good !
All the sins
I have committed against Thee
were then before Thine eyes.
Prevent me, Lord,
prevent me and all men
from sinning again !
Raise up souls dead in transgression:
Call them with such power,
that they may receive the new life
they ask not for,
and
come forth from the grave
of their luxuries.
Lazarus did not beg
to be restored to life —
Thou didst recall him
at the prayer of a woman
who was a sinner: [3]
One far more guilty
is now before Thee, my God:
Show forth Thy mercy !
Wretch that I am,
I pray for those
who will not ask it for themselves.
Thou knowest my anguish
at seeing their indifference
to the endless torments
they will suffer
unless they return to Thee.
5.
Ye men accustomed to
pleasure, luxuries and feasting,
who indulge your will in every way,
take compassion on yourselves !
Remember, that always,
for all eternity,
you will be subject to the infernal furies !
Reflect —
the Judge Who will condemn you then
is now your Suppliant; [4]
You are not sure
of living here another moment:
Why do you not strive
to live the true life for all eternity ?
Oh the hardness of men's hearts !
Soften them in Thy boundless pity,
my God !
6.
Good God ! Good God ! [5]
How I grieve at thinking
of the feelings of a soul
which has always been
respected and loved, waited on,
honoured and pampered,
on clearly realising its eternal perdition
and
that it is useless to try
to turn away its thoughts
from the truths of faith
as it did while on earth.
It will find itself torn from its pleasures
before it had begun to enjoy them,
for truly all that ends with life
passes like a puff of wind.
7.
The soul sees itself among
the hideous and merciless companions
with whom it is to suffer for eternity,
in the midst of a fetid pool of serpents, each of which strives
to devour it more fiercely than the rest;
A horrible darkness,
revealing nothing
but tormenting and hideous objects,
surrounds it,
and
no light appears except a gloomy flame. [6]
8.
Alas, this description falls short
of the reality !
Who so blinded the eyes
of such a man
that he never realises these horrors,
until plunged amongst them ? [7]
O Lord !
Who stopped his ears
from hearing the truths
so often told him
of the eternity of these torments ?
Ah, never-ending life !
Oh, ceaseless tortures,
ceaseless torments that last for ever !
How is it,
that men who fear the discomfort
of sleeping on a hard bed,
do not dread such anguish ?
9.
O Lord my God !
I weep for the time
when I ignored these horrors.
Thou knowest my grief
at seeing the multitude of men
who turn their thoughts
from eternal punishment:
Let there be one, O Lord,
at least let there be one
who asks Thee to enlighten him,
who is capable of leading many others
to the truth !
I ask not this favour
for my own sake, Lord,
for I do not deserve it,
but beg it of Thee
by the merits of Thy Son.
Look on His Wounds,
and
forgive us as He forgave the men
who inflicted them.
Foot Notes: [1] Ps. cxiv. 3 : Circumdederunt me dolores mortis. _____________________ [2] St. John xi. 35: Et lacrymatus est Jesus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference #2 35 And Jesus wept [John 11: 35] _____________________ [3] St. John xi. 32. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference #3 When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet, and saith to him: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 33 Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her, weeping, groaned in the spirit, and troubled himself, 34 And said: Where have you laid him? They say to him: Lord, come and see. 35 And Jesus wept [John 11: 32-35] _____________________ [4] Way of Perf. ch. xl. 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference #4 Reflect — the Judge Who will condemn you then is now your Suppliant; [4] ...What a boon it will be, at the hour of death when we are going we know not where, to think that we are to be judged by Him Whom we have loved above all things, with an ardour that has crushed self-love. We may feel safe concerning the acquittal of our debts: We shall not be going into a foreign country but into our fatherland, for it belongs to Him Whom we love so dearly and Who loves us in return. For this affection excels all earthly fondness, because if we love Him we are assured of His love for us. [Way of Perfection: Ch. 40: #7 ] _____________________ [5] Milner, etc., Excl. XI, _____________________ [6] Life, ch. xxxii. 1-9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference #6 Life, ch. xxxii. 1-9 I know not how it was, but I understood distinctly that it was a great mercy that our Lord would have me see with mine own eyes the very place from which His compassion saved me. [ Life: Ch. 32: #6] how manifest is it that Thou didst love me much more than I did love Thee! [ Life: Ch. 32: #8] _____________________ [7] "He will open in his torment the eyes which he long kept closed in sin " ! (St. Gregory, Moralia, bk. xxv. 6). |
End of Exclamation 10 Exclamations, Or Meditations Of The Soul On Its God S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel St. Teresa of Avila From the Book, "Minor Works Of St. Teresa Conceptions Of The Love Of God Exclamations, Maxims And Poems" |
Note: Attempt was made to display the quotes of the other books being cited by the editor's foot notes. But, they may not be the actual intended passages that were cited by the editor since the editions/translations used by the editor may have different paragraph numbering than those available to this blog. |
