Exclamations, Or Meditations of The Soul on Its God Exclamation 15 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 15 |
Exclamation XV [1]
1.
O my very God and Lord !
Greatly does it comfort the soul,
wearied by the loneliness
of absence from Thee,
to reflect that Thou art present
in all things !
Yet when
the ardour of its love
and
the impetuous vehemence of
its anguish
increases,
what does even this avail ?
The understanding is darkened,
the reason obscured,
so that it can
no longer grasp
nor believe this truth.
The soul only feels
that it
is separated from Thee
and
can find no solace,
for the heart
that loves Thee so deeply
receives neither comfort nor help
save from Him
Who wounded it and
to Whom it looks for the remedy
that will assuage its pain. [2]
2.
When Thou wilt, Lord,
Thou dost quickly cure the wound
Thou hast inflicted:
Until then,
vain is all hope of healing or joy
save that found in suffering
for so good a cause.
3.
O true Lover !
How tenderly,
how sweetly,
with what joy and caresses,
with what infinite signs of love
dost Thou heal these wounds,
opened by Thee
with the arrows of love itself !
4.
O my God,
Comforter of all sorrows,
how foolish I am !
What human remedy can avail
those injured by the divine fire ?
Who can
penetrate the depths
of this wound,
or
tell whence it came,
or
how such keen yet delicious torture
can be soothed ?
How senseless to fancy
that such a precious ill could be cured
by anything so common as human art.
5.
Well does the Bride say,
in the Canticles:
"My Beloved to me
and
I to my Beloved." [3 ]
"My Beloved to me,"
for no such love could spring
from love so base as mine.
Yet if my love be base,
my Bridegroom,
why does it pass by all creatures
until it reaches its Creator ?
6.
O my God !
Why, "I to my Beloved " ?
Thou, my true Lover,
didst begin this war of love,
which seems nothing
but an inquietude and failing
of all the powers and senses,
which go through the streets and lanes, [4]
imploring the daughters of Jerusalem
to tell them where is their God.
Against whom do the powers
of the soul strive,
during this contest,
save Him Who has taken possession
of the fortress they once held,
— the highest part of the soul ?
From this He has ejected them,
and
they now return to oust their conqueror;
At last, weary of absence from Him,
they yield themselves up.
Thus, losing all their strength,
they fight far better than before,
and
by surrendering to their victor,
triumph over Him finally.
7.
O my soul !
What a blessed conflict
hast thou waged
during this trial,
and
how truly has this been thy case.
Since "My Beloved is to me
and I to my Beloved,"
who will strive to separate and extinguish
two such ardent flames ?
It would be labour lost,
for they are now one. [5]
Foot Notes: [1] Milner, etc., Excl. XVI. _____________________ [2] Life, ch. xxix. 13-19. Rel. viii. 16, 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference # 2 The soul only feels that it is separated from Thee and can find no solace... save from Him Who wounded it and to Whom it looks for the remedy that will assuage its pain. [2] Life, ch. xxix. 13-19. ...It is by no efforts of the soul that it sorrows over the wound which the absence of our Lord has inflicted on it; it is far otherwise; for an arrow is driven ... into the heart at times, so that the soul knows not what is the matter with it, nor what it wishes for. It understands clearly enough that it wishes for God, and that the arrow seems tempered with some herb which makes the soul hate itself for the love of our Lord, and willingly lose its life for Him. ... [ Life: Ch. 29: #13] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rel. viii. 16, 17. Another prayer very common is a certain kind of wounding; for it really seems to the soul as if an arrow were thrust through the heart, or through itself ... but the suffering is so sweet, that it wishes it never would end... it is in the interior of the soul, without any appearance of bodily pain; [ Relation 8: #16] At other times, this wound of love seems to issue from the inmost depth of the soul; great are the effects of it... The effects of it are those longings after God, so quick and so fine that they cannot be described [ Relation 8: #17] _____________________ [3 ] Cant. ii. 16 : Dilectus meus mihi et ego illi _____________________ [4] Ibid. iii. 2: Per vicos et plateas quaeram quern diligit anima mea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference # 4 go through the streets and lanes, [4] imploring the daughters of Jerusalem to tell them where is their God. Canticles 3: 2 Per vicos et plateas quaeram quern diligit anima mea. in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth [ Canticles 3: 2 ] I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I languish with love. [ Canticles 5: 8 ] _____________________ [5] 1 Cor. vi. 17 : Qui adhaeret Deo, unus spiritus est. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blog Addition: Regarding Footnote reference # Since "My Beloved is to me and I to my Beloved," who will strive to separate and extinguish two such ardent flames ? It would be labour lost, for they are now one. [5] 1 Cor. vi. 17 : Qui adhaeret Deo, unus spiritus est. But he who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit [ 1 Cor 6: 17] |
End of Exclamation 15 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" |
