Preface

W3iiT'

THE WAY OF PERFECTION

NIHIL OBSTAT

Dom. Edmundus Kendal, D.D., O.S.B.

Censor Deputatus,

IMPRIMATUR

Dom. Aidanus Gasquet, O.S.B.

Cong, Anglice Ahhas Prceses,

THE WAY OF PERFECTION

BY

SAINT TERESA OF JESUS

TRANSLATED FROM THE AUTOGRAPH OF SAINT TERESA
BY THE

BENEDICTINES OF STANBROOK

INCLUDING ALL THE VARIANTS FROM BOTH
THE ESCORIAL AND VALLADOLID EDITIONS

REVISED WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION
BY THE VERY REVEREND

FATHER BENEDICT ZIMMERMAN,

O.C.D., PRIOR

LONDON

THOMAS BAKER

MCMXI

[A// rights resei‘ved\

. T~3

&iK

The Benedictines of Stanbrook desire to express
their gratitude to the Very Reverend Prior Benedict
Zimmerman for his kindness in revising “ The
Way of Perfection” and also for the notes and
Introduction which he has added to it.

Stanbrook Abbey ^

Worcester^

ct:

CL

O’NEILL library \

boston college

PROTESTATION.

In whatever I may say in this book, I submit to what
our Mother, the Holy Roman Church, teaches ; if I write
anything contrary to this, it will be unintentionally.
Therefore, I beg of the theologians who are to read it,
for the love of our Lord, to examine it carefully and to
correct any such faults as well as any other defects it
may possess. If it has any good in it, may it be for the
honour and glory of God and the service of His most
holy Mother, our patron and our Lady, whose habit I
wear, although most unworthy of it.^

1 This Protestation, although not to be found in her auto-
graphs, was written by St. Teresa for the edition published after
her death at Evora.

PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

Theotonio de Braganza, Archbishop of Evora
IN Portugal (however unworthy), to the

PIOUS AND DEVOUT MOTHERS, THE NUNS OF
THE PRIMITIVE RULE OF OUR LaDY OF MoUNT

Carmel.

Health in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Among many favours I have received from our
Lord, not the least was my intimate acquaintance
with the very Reverend Mother Teresa of Jesus,
now in Glory, because in her I have witnessed
the splendour of the gifts of our Lord and of His
divine grace. These are evidenced by the con-
vents founded by her according to the primitive
Rule of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, without any
mitigation, but with as much religious observance
and recollection, with such austerity, such un-
ceasing prayer and as much manual labour as our
weak human nature is able to bear. She herself
was a living example of that manner of life, and
she fully trusted that our Lord would grant to
His servants spiritual and bodily strength to

vu

Viii PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

persevere to the end. So great were the charity
and fervour of this Mother, such her solicitude
for the perfection of her daughters, that she did
not content » herself with the good example and
the instructions she gave while alive, but wished
that, even after her death, her words might remain
and continue the work she had begun on earth.
As one truly hungering after our Lord, and greatly
experienced in all that concerns the religious life,
she wrote the advice and the explanations con-
tained in this book, so that the sadness caused to
the nuns by her bodily absence might be counter-
balanced by her spiritual presence ; for, indeed,
she seems living even in the dead letters. This,
then, is one of the consolations with which her
spiritual daughters may alleviate the sorrow
caused by her death ; another being the certainty
that, where she now is, she will not abandon those
whom she so ardently loved, because, so far from
being smaller, charity is much greater in heaven
than on earth.

It is no small consolation to see, albeit after her
death, her spirit still alive in the doctrine of this
book, which she composed through zeal for the
spiritual improvement of her daughters, and
which she earnestly requested me to get printed.

There being various manuscript copies, it was
unavoidable that there should be many passages
at variance with what she had written ; this
could only be obviated by printing the whole

PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

IX

work, and therefore I willingly complied with her
request.

In this book, then, she first recommends the
practice of prayer and meditation which give a
taste of that sweetness reserved by God for those
who fear Him, rendering them prompt and ready
for all the works of virtue. For, just as Satan,
with the allurement of pleasure, leads men to vice,
so the Holy Ghost opposes to the sensual a spiritual
pleasure whereby He inclines them to the practice
of virtue.

She further strongly recommends the mortifica-
tion of our unruly appetites and our self-will,
which is brought about by prayer which softens
the heart, and by its sweetness compensates for
the bitterness inseparable from mortification.
These two virtues might be termed frankincense
and myrrh, so often mentioned in the Canticle
of Canticles ; incense, having the property of
rising into the air, represents prayer, and myrrh,
which has a bitter taste, mortification.

Moreover, she recommends in this book interior
recollection and the withdrawal from conversation
with worldly people, were they even our own
parents, according to the words of the prophet :
** Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy
ear ; and forget thy people and thy father’s house
(Psalm xliv. 2). She recommends manual labour
with a view to lessen such conversations and to
enable the nuns, who ought to be lovers of the

X

PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

poverty of Christ, to provide for their own needs
without having recourse to their families for
assistance. St. Paul himself, notwithstanding
his care of all the churches, provided by the
labour of his hands for his own requirements and
those of his companions ; how, then, could persons
who have no such charge dispense themselves,
with a good conscience, from this duty ?

She likewise recommends the rigour and the
austerity of the monastic life, and this rigour has
ever been maintained. For the first obligation
of religious persons, who have consecrated their
body and soul to Christ their Spouse, is to follow
the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, which means
to imitate and follow Him, and we know that
her whole life was a perpetual bearing of the cross,
and that she was exceedingly zealous for the
rigour and strictness of the Order, labouring hard
that it might ever remain firm and never become
weakened, for, if the least mitigation were allowed
to creep in, relaxation would inevitably follow
until the whole edifice came to grief ; for our nature
has a tendency towards ease, and drags us down.
This austerity has a further advantage, inas-
much as those who might choose the religious life,
not for the sake of God, but for earthly considera-
tions, could never select a manner of life so entirely
at variance with the inclinations of human nature.
Just as the sea casts out dead bodies, so a strict
Order frightens away 'those who, without being

PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

XI

called by God, are only guided by human con-
siderations. It follows that none will choose it but
those ready to give up the world for the sake of
Christ, and these, so far from chafing under the
recollection and austerity of this kind of life, cherish
it, and these are precisely the class of persons who
maintain the Order in its integrity. This Mother
also wished her nuns to be few in number, because
small means are large enough for a few, and thus
will be warded off the greatest danger that could
befall a religious community, namely, that of
paying more attention to the dowry than to the
spirit and devotion of aspirants ; otherwise some
persons unfit for the religious life might be
admitted. And as they must needs be strict
in the choice of those whom they receive, they
must be prompt in dismissing those who have
not the required qualities. For this reason she
thought it imprudent to receive nuns coming
from a great distance, as it might not be con-
venient to send them back to their hom.es if the
necessity arose.

These are the points, very reverend Mothers,
that you will learn from this book, and which I
have learnt from the life and the example of your
Mother, together with many other particulars
about the gifts and virtues with which our Lord
had enriched her. One of these was her wonderful
obedience to her spiritual fathers, which was such
that sometimes, when she knew the will of God

(

xii PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

to be different from theirs, she obeyed them all
the same, our Lord approving her manner of
acting and testifying that He preferred obedience
to confessors and- superiors.

She possessed another special gift of our Lord,
namely this, that all the persons dealing with her
changed their lives and advanced in virtue, as has
been clearly seen in some religious deficient in
gravity and learning, and also in many other
persons. Not less remarkable was another gift
she held from God, which enabled her to lead her
visitors to the exercise of prayer and meditation,
so that in a very short time and with great facility
they even became masters in that art, provided
they had the necessary disposition.

Owing to the great desire I have that your
Reverences should in all things imitate her and
faithfully guard the treasure entrusted to you, I
wished to remind you of these matters, trusting
that our Lord, Who hath given you so rich a share
of His spirit, will preserve it within you. Thus
you will ever advance from virtue to virtue until
you attain perfection, and will not be far from
the glorious sight of your most sweet Briciegroom,
our Lord. For myself I desire no other reward
than that the nuns into whose hands this book
may fall should commend me to our Lord, asking
Him that, since His Majesty has placed me in
this high position. He may also give me the grace
so to fill it that after this mortal life I may come

PREFACE OF THE FIRST EDITION.

Xlll

to the enjoyment of His glory, which we believe
this blessed Mother already to possess. I trust
she will not forget those that loved her during
life, nor those devoted to her since she has gone.

May Christ ever dwell in the souls of your
Reverences with the abundance of His grace.

THEOTONIO, Archbishop of Evora.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction ......... i