I. So great is the gift that our good Master has asked

for us and has taught us to beg for ourselves, that it

Directly novices entered the convent, St. Teresa made them
leave off vocal prayers and similar devotions, which they had
practised in the world. She told the novice-mistresses to guide
them by the way of mental prayer and the practice of the
presence of God. (Deposition of Mary of St, Francis. Fuente,
vol. vi. 31 1, n. 22. See also Visit. 28).

1 Valladolid edition, ch. xxxiv. ; Escorial, ch. liv.

2o8 the way of perfection. [chap. XXXII.

includes all we can desire in this life. He has done us
the immense favour of making us His brethren : let us
now learn what Christ offers God on our behalf, and what
He wishes us to give His Father in return. We must
first see what our Lord requests of us, for it is only right
that we should do Him some service in acknowledgment
of such supreme blessings. O good Jesus ! whilst
demanding so much for us, how little dost Thou give in
return — how little, I mean, on our part — for it is as
nothing compared with the debt we owe this mighty
Monarch. And yet, my Lord, Thou hast not left us
without means of repaying Him, for we give all we can,
if, when we say the words, “ I wish that, as Thy will
is done in heaven, so it may be done on earth,” we yield
Him our wills. ^

2. Thou hast done well, O our good Master, in making
this petition come last, so that we may be able to accom-
plish what Thou dost promise for us here. For truly,
O Lord, hadst Thou not done so, our task would have
seemed hopeless ; yet, since Thy Father bestows His
kingdom on us at Thy prayer, I know that we can fulfil
Thy promise by giving what Thou didst offer in our name.
For since my “ earth ” is now made “ heaven,” it is pos-
sible for Thy will to be done in me ; otherwise, in ” earth ”
so barren and so wretched, I know not how it could have
come to pass. For Thou askest so great a thing.

2 Life, ch. XX. 30. Castle, M. v. ch. iii. 3. Found, ch. v. 10.

CHAP. XXXII.j ASKING FOR CROSSES. 269

3. I wish you, daughters, to realise its importance.
I am amused at the thought of people fearing to ask
for crosses from God. Some say it would be a want
of humility to pray for crosses. I have met with
other people who, without even this pretext, have not
courage to beg for the sufferings they think would be
sent at once. Persons who refrain, out of humility, from
demanding them believe that they would not be able
to bear such trials. For my part, I think that He Who
gives the love that longs for such a hard way of proving
its sincerity would also give love enough to suffer. I
would ask souls who will not sue for the crosses they
fancy would be sent them immediately, whether they
know what they are asking for when they beg that the
will of God may be done in them ? Do they simply
repeat the words in imitation of other people ? This,
my daughters, would be exceedingly wrong. The good
Jesus is here our Ambassador, Who, at no small cost to
Himself, seeks to mediate for us with His Father, and it
would be unfair for us to refuse to give what He pledges on
our behalf — it would be better that we should never proffer
it. I will put the case in a different way. Inevitably,
the will of God must be done — whether we wish it or no,
it will prevail both in heaven and earth. Then take my
advice ; trust what I say, and make a virtue of necessity.

4. O my God, well is it for me that Thou didst not
leave such a wretch as myself at liberty to fulfil or to

14

2iO the way of perfection. [chap. XXXII.

frustrate Thy will ! What should I have done, had it
depended upon me whether Thy will should be done
in heaven and on earth ? Yet, although it is not purged
from all self-seeking, freely do I yield my will to Thee,
for experience has taught me what I gain by resigning
my own will to Thine. ^ Mayest Thou be blessed for ever,
and may all creation praise Thee : may Thy name be
evermore glorified !

5. O my friends, what benefits this brings us ! What
do we not lose by withholding from God that which
we offer Him in the Pater Noster ! Before explaining
all its advantages, I will show you all that you are
offering here, lest you might afterwards say that you
had been cheated and inveigled into it, without under-
standing it. Do not copy certain nuns, who make their
vows but never fulfil them, pleading that they did not
know what they undertook when they made their
profession. This may well have been the case, for words
are easy but deeds are hard, and if any one thought
there was no difference between them, she was much
mistaken. We can promise lightly enough to give up
our will to somebody else, but when it comes to the test
we shall find it is the most difficult thing in the world
to do thoroughly.* By means of a long probation, you

® Foundations, Prologue 1,2; ch. v. 6, 7.

* Sister Dorothy of the Cross says that whenever any of her
daughters asked the Saint how to advance in virtue, she answered :
“ By perfect obedience to the Rule.” {Fuente, vo\. vi. 282, n. 3.)

CHAP. XXXII.] WILL OF GOD. 21 1

should make persons who enter here clearly under-
stand that they are bound to give deeds as well
as words. Superiors are not always so strict, because
they see our weakness ; sometimes they treat both
weak and strong in the same way. But God does
not do this : He knows what each can bear, and
when He finds a valiant soul He accomplishes His
will in it.

6. I wish to remind you what is the will of God, so
that you may know with Whom you have to deal, as the
saying goes, and may realise what the good Jesus is
offering to the Father on your behalf. Know that when
you say ; “ Thy will be done,” you are begging that
God’s will may be carried out in you,® for it is this, and
nothing else, that you ask for. You need not fear that
He will give you riches, or pleasures, or great honours,
or any earthly good — His love for you is not so lukewarm
— He places a higher value on your gift and wishes to

^ “ Although, perforce, we satisfy our obligation to avoid
sin, yet we fall far short of what must be done in order to obtain
perfect conformity to the will of God. What do you think, my
daughters, is His will ? That we may become quite perfect
and so be made one with Him and with His Father, as He prayed
we might be. . . . There is no need for us to receive any special
§ifts from God in order to arrive at conformity with His will ;
He has done enough, in giving us His Son, to teach us the way.
. . . Our Lord asks but two things of us : love for Him and for
our neighbour ; these are what we must strive to obtain. Let
us try to do His will perfectly ; then we shall be united to Him ”
{Castle, M. v. ch. iii. 7).

212 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXXII.

reward you generously, since He has given you His
kingdom even in this life. Would you like to see how
He treats those who make this petition unreservedly ?
Ask His glorious Son, Who in the garden uttered it
truthfully and resolutely. See whether the will of God
was not accomplished in the trials, the sufferings, the
insults, and the persecutions sent Him, until at last His
life was ended on the cross.® Thus, you see, daughters,
what God gave to Him He loved best : this shows what
His will means. These are His gifts in this world, and
He grants them in proportion to His affection for us.
To souls He cherishes most He gives more — and
fewer to those less dear to Him, according to their
courage and the love He sees they bear Him. For
fervent love can suffer much for Him, while tepidity
will endure but little. For my part, I believe
that our love is the measure of the cross we can
bear.’

7. Then, sisters, if you have this love, think of what
you are doing : let not the promises you made to so great
a God be only words of empty compliment, but force
yourselves to suffer whatever God wishes. Any other

® Escorial edition, ch. Iv. That religious are bound to fulfil
their vows by their actions.

’ The Saint was never impatient at her trials, but used to
say : “ Let us bear this persecution and suffering, my daughters,
for they come with our Lord’s permission.” (Deposition of
Mother Mary of St. Joseph. Fuente, vol. vi. 284, n. ii.)

CHAP. XXXII.]

VOW OF OBEDIENCE.

213

way of yielding Him our will is like offering some one
a jewel, begging him to accept it, and holding it fast
when he puts out his hand to take it. It is shameful
to trifle thus with One Who has done so much for us.
Were there no other reason, it would be wrong to mock
Him thus, again and again, whenever we repeat the
Pater Noster. Let us give Him, once for all, the gem
we have so often proffered Him — although He gave
us, first, what we are now tendering to His Father.
Ah, how well does Jesus understand us ! He does
not surrender our will to God in our name, until we
have already been amply repaid for this trivial service.
This shows us what great benefits it will obtain for us
from His Father, Who begins to recompense us for it
in this life, as I will explain to you later on. People
who live in the world do much if they sincerely resolve
to submit their will to God, but yoii, daughters, must
both say and act, must both vow and fulfil your vows,
as, indeed, religious may truly be said to do.® Yet

^ While Father Jerome Gratian was staying at Veas with
St. Teresa, he bade her ask our Lord whether she should make a
foundation first at Seville or at Madrid. The answer was, “At
Madrid.” The Father Visitor replied : ” I, however, am of
opinion that it should be at Seville.” The Saint made no answer,
and immediately began to prepare to go there. Two or three
days later Father Gratian asked her why she had obeyed him,
who was only guided by reasons of prudence, rather than our
Lord, although she had made a vow always to do what was
most perfect. She said that she could not be so sure of any

214 the way of perfection. [chap. XXXII.

sometimes, not only do we offer God our jewel, but we
actually put it into His hands — then we turn round
and take it back again. We are so generous at first
and so miserly afterwards, that it would almost
have been better to have shown more caution in
giving.

8. My whole aim in writing this book has been to incite
us to yield ourselves entirely to our Creator," to submit
our will to His, and to detach ourselves from all created
things. As you already understand how important this
is, I will say no more on the subject, but will explain
to you why our good Master makes us say this petition.
He well knows how we shall benefit by accomplishing
the promise made to His eternal Father. In a very
short time, we shall find ourselves at the end of our
journey and shall drink of the fountain of living water
of which I spoke. But unless we resign and conform
our will entirely to the Divine will, we shall never obtain
that water. This is the perfect contemplation that you
wished me to write about. Here, as I have shown you,
we can do nothing on our part. Here we neither work
nor plan for ourselves, nor is it necessary, for everything,

revelation as she was of her Superior’s command being the will
of God, for she might be mistaken in revelations, but of this
there could be no mistake. The Father ordered her to consult
our Lord again : she was told that she had done well in obeying,
and was to go to Seville. {Yepes, bk. ii. ch. xxvii.)

^ Rel. V. 3. Way of Perf. ch. xix. 4.

CHAP. XXXII.] OFFERING OUR WILL. 215

except the prayer, “ Thy will be done,” would only
hinder and disturb us.

9. In every way and in every matter, do Thy will
in me, O Lord, as Thou pleasest. If Thou desirest to
give me crosses, grant me strength, and let them
come : if Thou wouldst send me persecutions, shame,
poverty, illness — I stand ready, nor will I turn away
from them, O my Father ! I have no right to flee from
them, since Thy Son has offered Thee my will with the
rest, in the name of all of us. Let Thy kingdom come
to me, as Thy Son has asked of Thee, so that I may fulfil
Thy will. Dispose of me as of Thine own, according as
Thou wiliest.

10. What power, sisters, lies in this gift of the will !
Made with full determination, it is able to draw the
Almighty to become one with our baseness and to trans-
form us into Himself, thus uniting the creature with its
Creator. Are you not well repaid ? See how good your
Master is ! He knows how to gain His Father’s good-
will and teaches us how to do the same.“ The more
resolute we are and the more clearly our actions testify
that ours are no empty vows, the closer does God draw
us to Him. He raises far above all earthly things
and even above ourselves, that He may prepare us to
receive heavenly favours. Even in this life He rewards

Escorial edition, ch. Ivi. What God gives to souls that
have abandoned themselves to His will.

2I6 the way of perfection. [chap. XXXII.

US unceasingly for this service, which He values ex-
ceedingly.