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,
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
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" |
