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object:CHAPTER 26 - Continues the description of a method for recollecting the
thoughts. Describes means of doing this. This chapter is very
profitable for those who are beginning prayer.
book class:The Way of Perfection
author class:Saint Teresa of Avila
class:chapter

Let us now return to our vocal prayer, so that we may learn to pray in such a way that, without
our understanding how, God may give us everything at once: if we do this, as I have said, we shall
pray as we ought. As you know, the first things must be examination of conscience, confession of
sin and the signing of yourself with the Cross. Then, daughter, as you are alone, you must look for
a companion-and who could be a better Companion than the very Master Who taught you the

96

algaraba. Lit.: "Arabic" and hence "gibberish," "jargon."

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St. Teresa of Avila

prayer that you are about to say? Imagine that this Lord Himself is at your side and see how lovingly
and how humbly He is teaching you-and, believe me, you should stay with so good a Friend for
as long as you can before you leave Him. If you become accustomed to having Him at your side,
and if He sees that you love Him to be there and are always trying to please Him, you will never
be able, as we put it, to send Him away, nor will He ever fail you. He will help you in all your trials
and you will have Him everywhere. Do you think it is a small thing to have such a Friend as that
beside you?
O sisters, those of you whose minds cannot reason for long or whose thoughts cannot dwell
upon God but are constantly wandering must at all costs form this habit. I know quite well that you
are capable of it-for many years I endured this trial of being unable to concentrate on one subject,
and a very sore trial it is. But I know the Lord does not leave us so devoid of help that if we approach
Him humbly and ask Him to be with us He will not grant our request. If a whole year passes without
our obtaining what we ask, let us be prepared to try for longer. Let us never grudge time so well
spent. Who, after all, is hurrying us? I am sure we can form this habit and strive to walk at the side
of this true Master.
I am not asking you now to think of Him, or to form numerous conceptions of Him, or to make
long and subtle meditations with your understanding. I am asking you only to look at Him. For
who can prevent you from turning the eyes of your soul (just for a moment, if you can do no more)
upon this Lord? You are capable of looking at very ugly and loathsome things: can you not, then,
look at the most beautiful thing imaginable? Your Spouse never takes His eyes off you, daughters.
He has borne with thousands of foul and abominable sins which you have committed against Him,
yet even they have not been enough to make Him cease looking upon you. Is it such a great matter,
then, for you to avert the eyes of your soul from outward things and sometimes to look at Him?
See, He is only waiting for us to look at Him, as He says to the Bride. 97you will find Him. He longs
so much for us to look at Him once more that it will not be for lack of effort on His part if we fail
to do so.
A wife, they say, must be like this if she is to have a happy married life with her husband. If
he is sad, she must show signs of sadness; if he is merry, even though she may not in fact be so,
she must appear merry too. See what slavery you have escaped from, sisters! Yet this, without any
pretence, is really how we are treated by the Lord. He becomes subject to us and is pleased to let
you be the mistress and to conform to your will. If you are happy, look upon your risen Lord, and
the very thought of how He rose from the sepulchre will gladden you. How bright and how beautiful
was He then! How majestic! 98How victorious! How joyful! He was like one emerging from a battle
in which He had gained a great kingdom, all of which He desires you to have-and with it Himself.
Is it such a great thing that you should turn your eyes but once and look upon Him Who has made
you such great gifts?

97

A vague reminiscence of some phrase from Canticles: perhaps ii, 14, 16, v, 2, or vi, 12.

98

Lit.: "With what majesty!"

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St. Teresa of Avila

If you are suffering trials, or are sad, look upon Him on His way to the Garden. What sore
distress He must have borne in His soul, to describe His own suffering as He did and to complain
of it! Or look upon Him bound to the Column, full of pain, His flesh all torn to pieces by His great
love for you. How much He suffered, persecuted by some, spat upon by others, denied by His
friends, and even deserted by them, with none to take His part, frozen with the cold and left so
completely alone that you may well comfort each other! Or look upon Him bending under the
weight of the Cross and not even allowed to take breath: He will look upon you with His lovely
and compassionate eyes, full of tears, and in comforting your grief will forget His own because
you are bearing Him company in order to comfort Him and turning your head to look upon Him.
"O Lord of the world, my true Spouse!" you may say to Him, if seeing Him in such a plight
has filled your heart with such tenderness that you not only desire to look upon Him but love to
speak to Him, not using forms of prayer, but words issuing from the compassion of your heart,
which means so much to Him: "Art Thou so needy, my Lord and my Good, that Thou wilt accept
poor companionship like mine? Do I read in Thy face that Thou hast found comfort, even in me?
How can it be possible, Lord, that the angels are leaving Thee alone and that Thy Father is not
comforting Thee?
"If Thou, Lord, art willing to suffer all this for me, what am I suffering for Thee? What have I
to complain of? I am ashamed, Lord, when I see Thee in such a plight, and if in any way I can
imitate Thee I will suffer all trials that come to me and count them as a great blessing. Let us go
both together, Lord: whither Thou goest, I must go; through whatsoever Thou passest, I must pass."
Take up this cross, sisters: never mind if the Jews trample upon you provided you can save Him
some of His trials. Take no heed of what they say to you; be deaf to all detraction; stumble and fall
with your Spouse, but do not draw back from your cross or give it up. Think often of the weariness
of His journey and of how much harder His trials were than those which you have to suffer. However
hard you may imagine yours to be, and however much affliction they may cause you, they will be
a source of comfort to you, for you will see that they are matters for scorn compared with the trials
endured by the Lord.
You will ask me, sisters, how you can possibly do all this, and say that, if you had seen His
Majesty with your bodily eyes at the time when He lived in the world, you would have done it
willingly and gazed at Him for ever. Do not believe it: anyone who will not make the slight effort
necessary for recollection in order to gaze upon this Lord present within her, which she can do
without danger and with only the minimum of trouble, would have been far less likely to stand at
the foot of the Cross with the Magdalen, who looked death (as they say) straight in the face. What
the glorious Virgin and this blessed saint must have suffered! What threats, what malicious words,
what shocks, what insults! For the people they were dealing with were not exactly polite to them.
No, indeed; theirs was the kind of courtesy you might meet in hell, for they were the ministers of
the devil himself. Yet, terrible as the sufferings of these women must have been, they would not
have noticed them in the presence of pain so much greater.

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So do not suppose, sisters, that you would have been prepared to endure such great trials then,
if you are not ready for such trifling ones now. Practise enduring these and you may be given others
which are greater. Believe that I am telling the truth when I say that you can do this, for I am
speaking from experience. You will find it very helpful if you can get an image or a picture of this
Lord- one that you like-not to wear round your neck and never look at but to use regularly
whenever you talk to Him, and He will tell you what to say. If words do not fail you when you talk
to people on earth, why should they do so when you talk to God? Do not imagine that they will-I
shall certainly not believe that they have done so if you once form the habit. For when you never
have intercourse with a person he soon becomes a stranger to you, and you forget how to talk to
him; and before long, even if he is a kinsman, you feel as if you do not know him, for both kinship
and friendship lose their influence when communication ceases.
It is also a great help to have a good book, written in the vernacular, simply as an aid to
recollection. With this aid you will learn to say your vocal prayers well, I mean, as they ought to
be said-and little by little, persuasively and methodically, you will get your soul used to this, so
that it will no longer be afraid of it. Remember that many years have passed since it went away
from its Spouse, and it needs very careful handling before it will return home. We sinners are like
that: we have accustomed our souls and minds to go after their own pleasures (or pains, it would
be more correct to say) until the unfortunate soul no longer knows what it is doing. When that has
happened, a good deal of skill is necessary before it can be inspired with enough love to make it
stay at home; but unless we can gradually do that we shall accomplish nothing. Once again I assure
you that, if you are careful to form habits of the kind I have mentioned, you will derive such great
profit from them that I could not describe it even if I wished. Keep at the side of this good Master,
then, and be most firmly resolved to learn what He teaches you; His Majesty will then ensure your
not failing to be good disciples, and He will never leave you unless you leave Him. Consider the
words uttered by those Divine lips: the very first of them will show you at once what love He has
for you, and it is no small blessing and joy for the pupil to see that his Master loves Him.



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CHAPTER_26_-_Continues_the_description_of_a_method_for_recollecting_the, #The Way of Perfection, #Saint Teresa of Avila, #Christianity
  object:CHAPTER 26 - Continues the description of a method for recollecting the
  thoughts. Describes means of doing this. This chapter is very

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