Thursday, August 16, 2012

Exclamation 16 - Exclamations, or Meditations of the Soul on Its God - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus




                    Exclamations, 

                            Or 

    Meditations of The Soul on Its God    

                  Exclamation 16  



                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 16  


         Exclamation    XVI           [1]

1
"O my God, my infinite Wisdom, 
without measure and without bounds, 
    above the understanding 
    either of angels or men ; 


Love, 
Who dost love me more 
    than I 
       can love myself, 
            or 
       can conceive: 

Why do I wish for more 
    than Thou dost will to give me ? 

Why weary myself by praying 
    for what I desire 
to Thee, 
    Who knowest what would be
        the result of all 
             my thoughts imagine 
                   or 
             my heart craves for, 
while I am ignorant 
    of what would profit me ? 


2
Perhaps what my soul fancies 
    would be its gain 
might be its ruin. 

If I ask Thee 
    to free me from a cross 
by which Thou seekest to mortify me, 
what do I ask Thee, my God ? 


3
If I entreat Thee 
    to send me such a trial, 
perhaps it may be 
    beyond my patience 
which is too weak to bear
    so heavy a burden; 

Or, were I to endure it, 
but were wanting in humility, 
    I might fancy 
       I had performed some great deed, 
while Thou, my God, didst do it all. 


When I seek for greater sufferings, 
I do not wish 
    for what might injure my good name 
which seems requisite for serving Thee, 

although I believe 
    that I care nothing for my honour; 
Yet perhaps the very means 
    I think would hinder me 
might further my one desire 
    of labouring for Thee. 


I could say far more, O Lord, 
    to show how little I know myself

but as Thou surely knowest this, 
    why do I speak of it? 


4
In order that, 
 when 
    misery again overwhelms me, 
         my God, 
             and 
    reason is blinded, 
I may find it written here. 


Often, my God, 
when I feel most 
    wretched, weak, and cowardly, 
do I try to recall her, 
    who called herself Thy servant, 
    who thought the grace 
         she had received from Thee
             would suffice to arm her 
         against all the tempests of this world. 
                                                                   [2]

5
No, my God, no ! 

Let me no longer trust 
    to my own wishes: 

Will for me 
    as Thou art pleased to will, 
for this is my will, 
    since all my good consists 
       in pleasing Thee. 

If Thou, my God, shouldst will 
    to please me by satisfying my longings,
I see that I should be lost. 

How vain is man's wisdom ! 

How dangerous are his plans ! 

May Thy providence supply my need 
that I may serve Thee 
    according to Thy will, not mine ! 


6
Punish me not 
by granting prayers or wishes 
    at variance with Thy love, 
which I desire may ever dwell within me. 

Make me die to self

Let Another, 
    greater and better for me than myself, 
live in me
    that I may serve Him; 

Let Him live and give me life:            [3]

Let Him reign 
    that I may be His slave, 

    — my soul seeks no other liberty, 
           for how can he be free 
         who is separated from the most High ?

   What more abject or miserable serf 
      than the soul which has broken loose 
    from the hands of its Creator ? 


7
Happy the souls 
    imprisoned by the fetters and chains 
       of God's gifts and mercy, 
           and 
    too strongly bound and helpless 
       to free themselves. 


"Love is 
    strong as death 
          and 
    hard as hell."                                       [4] 


8
Oh, that we were but 
    slain by this love, 
          and 
    plunged in this divine hell, 
from whence, ah, 
from whence there is 
    no hope of escape, 
or rather,
    no fear of being cast forth. 

But woe is me, Lord ! 

During this mortal life 
we live in constant danger 
    of losing the life that is eternal. 


9
O life, 
   enemy of my joy
would that it were lawful 
    to put an end to thee ! 

I endure thee, 
    since God endures thee: 

I sustain thee, 
    for thou art His

Do not betray 
    nor harm me in return. 

And yet, Lord, 
   "Woe is me 
that my sojourning is prolonged."     [5]

All time is short 
    in exchange for Thine eternity, 
yet how long a day, 
    or even an hour appears, 
laden with the risk and dread 
    of offending Thee ! 


10
Free-will ! 
Enslaved by thy liberty, 
    unless established 
       in the fear and love of thy Creator, 
when will that blessed day arrive 
    in which, absorbed 
       in the infinite ocean of supreme Truth, 
thou wilt no longer possess 
     the power nor wish to sin, 
being freed from all misery, 
    and 
united to the life of thy God ? 


11
God is happy, 
for He knows, loves, and rejoices
    in Himself, 
without the possibility of doing otherwise. 

He is not, 
nor can He be, 
    at liberty 
       to forget or cease to love Himself, 
nor would such power 
    be a perfection in Him. 

Thou wilt enter into thy rest, my soul, 
when thou dost enter
    into closest intimacy 
        with this Sovereign Good, 
when thou 
    knowest what He knows, 
    lovest what He loves, 
    joying in what rejoices Him. 


12
Then thou wilt lose the fickleness 
    of thy will; 

Then, ah then, 
wilt thou change no more; 

For the grace of God 
    will have been powerful enough 
to render thee so perfect 
    a "partaker of His divine nature"       [6]
that thou wilt no longer 
    have the power nor wish
        to forget the supreme Good, 
    nor to cease to exult
        in Him 
            and 
        in His love. 

Blessed are those 
whose names are written
    in the book of life.                                   [7]

But, my soul, 
if thou art among their number, 
  "Why art thou sad, 
         and 
    why dost thou trouble me?"                 [8]


13
"Hope in the Lord, 
because I will yet confess to Him"        [9] 
    my sins and His mercies: 
of which I will make a song of praise,
    mingled with incessant sighs to Him, 
         my Saviour and my God. 

It may be that a day will come 
when 
   "my glory shall sing to Him "               [10] 
                and 
     my conscience be no more "troubled," 
where all weeping and fears 
     shall be no more. 


Meanwhile, 
"in hope and silence 
    shall my strength be."                           [11] 

Rather would I live and die 
    in the hope of eternal life
than possess all created beings and riches, 
    for they must all pass away. 
    
Forsake me not, O Lord, 
    for "in Thee do I trust, 
let not my hope be confounded ! "       [12]


May I always serve Thee faithfully 
    — then dispose of me as Thou wilt ! "



              Foot Notes:


[1]
   Milner, etc., Excl. XVII. 
_____________________



[2]
   Life, ch. xxv. 23, 24. 
   Castle, M. vi. ch. i. 21.

  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
         Blog Addition:
   Regarding Footnote reference # 2

   I try to recall her, 
   who called herself Thy servant, 
   who thought the grace 
     she had received from Thee
         would suffice to arm her 
     against all the tempests of this world. 
                                                               [2]

      Life, ch. xxv. 23, 24. 

      "As He strengthens our faith, 
            love grows. 

       So it is, in truth; 
       for I used frequently to recollect 
            how our Lord, 
                   when the tempest arose, 
            commanded the winds to be still 
                   over the sea.  

       So I said to myself: 
          "Who is He, 
                   that all my faculties should
                           thus obey Him? 

            Who is He, 
                   that gives light in such darkness
                           in a moment; 

            Who softens a heart 
                   that seemed to be made of stone; 

            Who gives the waters of sweet tears,
                   where for a long time 
            great dryness seems to have prevailed; 

            Who inspires these desires; 
            Who bestows this courage?" 
               [ Life: Ch. 25: #23]

      "Seeing, then,
            that our Lord is so powerful,
                as I see and know He is, and 
            that the evil spirits are His slaves, 
                of which there can be no doubt,  
       because 
            it is of faith, 
                and 
          I,  a servant of this our Lord 
                    and King,
       what harm can Satan do unto me? 

       Why have I not strength enough 
            to fight against all hell? 

       I took up the cross in my hand,
            I was changed in a moment 
                    into another person, 

       and it seemed 
           as if God had really given me
                   courage enough not to be afraid 
                   of encountering all the evil spirits. 

       It seemed to me that I could, 
           with the cross
       easily defeat them altogether." 
           [ Life: Ch. 25: #24]

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

      Castle, M. vi. ch. i. 21.

   "…There is no other remedy 
        in such a tempest 
    except to wait for the mercy of God 
        Who, unexpectedly, 
             by some casual word
             or unforeseen circumstance, 
    suddenly dispels all these sorrows; 

    then every cloud of trouble disappears 
            and 
    the mind is left 
        full of light 
            and 
        far happier than before.            

    It praises our Lord God 
        like one who has come out victorious 
            from a dangerous battle, 
    for it was He Who won the victory

    The soul is fully conscious 
        that the conquest was not its own
     as all weapons of self-defence 
        appeared to be in the enemies' hands.

    Thus it realizes 
        its weakness 
             and 
       how little man can help himself 
             if God forsake him.     
             [ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:
                Ch. 1: # 20]

_____________________


[3]
   Gal. ii. 20 : 
    Vivo autem jam non ego, 
    vivit vero in me Christus. 

    And I live, now not I; 
    but Christ liveth in me
_____________________


[4] 
   Cant. viii. 6: 
    Quia fortis est ut mors dilectio, 
    dura sicut infernus aemulatio. 

__________________


[5]
  Ps. cxix. 5: 
   Heu mihi, 
   quia incolatus meus prolongatus est. 

_____________________


[6]
   2 Pet. 1. 4: 
   Divinae consortes naturae 

      . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
         Blog Addition:
     Regarding Footnote reference # 6

     By whom he hath given us 
         most great and  precious promises: 
     that by these you may be made 
         partakers of the divine nature
               [ 2 Peter 1: 4 ]
_____________________


[7]
   St. Luke x. 20: 
    Gaudete autem 
    quod nomina vestra scripta sunt in coelis. 

       . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
         Blog Addition:
    Regarding Footnote reference # 7

     ...but rejoice in this, 
     that your names are written in heaven. 
        [Lk 10: 20]

_____________________


[8]
   Ps. xli. 6: 
    Quare tristis es, anima mea ? 
    et quare conturbas me ? 
_____________________


[9]
   Ps. xli. 12: 
    Spera in Deo 
    quoniam adhuc confitebor  illi. 

_____________________


[10]
     Ps. xxix. 13: 
      Ut cantet tibi gloria mea. 
_____________________


[11]
    Is. xxx. 15: 
     In silentio et in spe 
              erit fortitudo vestra. 
_____________________


[12] 
    Ps. xxx. 2: 
     In te Domine speravi, 
          non confundar in aetenum. 





              End of    Exclamation 16  


                           And 


                     End  of  the
                         
                   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"