Preface

3650J^ef!s Street idsor, Ontario N9C IT9
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SAINT TERESA.
LIFE
SAINT TERESA,
"WPlITTEIKr
TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH, BY
THE IlEV. JOHN DALTON
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION.
PUBLISHED WITH TIIK APPROBATION OF THE
RT. REV. BISHOP OF PHILADELPHIA.
PETER F. CUNNINGHAM & SON, 825 Arch Street, Philadelphia.
PERMISSU SUFERURoM
Sntered according to Act of Congress in the y**r 1870, bj
PETER F. CUNNIKuttAM,
la th» Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 8Ute«, in aud for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE
TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
The Life of St. Teresa, written by herself, is now, for the first time, presented in the English language to the American readers. The preface by the translator, Rev. John Dal ton, of London, and which is here given, leaves but little to be said by the American publisher.
Among the lives of so many eminent serv ants of God, few have been autobiographies. St. Augustine, perhaps alone, in his confessions, has preceded St. Teresa. This difference, how ever, exists between those holy writers, that whilst the great Bishop of Hippo has left us his Confessions, as a testimony of God's won derful mercies towards himself, the blessed Teresa wrote her life in obedience to the com mands of her confessor, and to explain the marvels of God's providence in her regard.
If the sixteenth century was marked by the fearful heresies of Luther, Calvin, Munzer, John of Leyden, and so many others, whose
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shoreless doctrines inundated society with so many evils — during that very period, the church seemed more than ordinarily fruitful with holy and learned men, and institutions of the most beneficial character sprang up in every direc tion. In that eventful century, arose the in stitute of St. Ignatius, giving to the church her brightest, and most learned children, the Jesuits. Then were seen in England, Sir Thomas Moore, Bishop Fisher, and Cardinal Pole. In Italy, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Philip Neri, aad Leo the Tenth, the patron of learning, and the fine arts. Whilst Spain gave to the church the great Ximenes, Sts Ignatius, and Zavier, Borgio, St. John of the Cross, and the no less wonderful St. Teresa.
Seldom is the holy recluse an interesting writer, or a pleasing author. Those virtues which withdraw one from the world, and forbid its enjoyments, seem not always the best cal culated to form literary habits. St. Teresa, however, affords an exception. Her writings evidence talents of a high order, and her numerous letters attest a command of feeling and expressions not only interesting, but in structive. Her great power, however, lay in her wonderful capacity for prayer, and the
PREFACE.
facility with which she explains its gradation and efficacy.
We must not expect, in a work of this ex alted-character, in which the mysterious dealings of God with his Saints are so familiarly treated, to be able to understand or fully appreciate her sublime, and, at times, supernatural language ; but we can admire her piety and humility, and learn to adore the providence of that God whose wonders and mercies are so great. Her con stitution, naturally weak, and her body so taxed by physical suffering, still endured beyond the ordinary range of human life. This great servant of God lived sixty-seven years, forty- seven of which she spent in the severest exercises of penitence and prayer. Her long and severely exercised life in the service of her God, should tend to correct that over weening anxiety on the part of so many modern Christians, that will not suffer the slightest en croachment upon those gratifications which are now deemed so lawful by a deceitful world.
J. P. D.
FEAST OF ST. PHILIP NERI, 1860.
TO THE MOST EMINENT AND MOST REVEREND
NICHOLAS,
CARDINAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH, ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER, &c.
MY LORD CARDINAL ARCHBISHOP, —
Your kindness in allowing me the honor of dedicating this translation to your Eminence, calls for the expression of my sincere gratitude. It seems fitting that a translation of St. Teresa's Life should, in some way, have the approba tion of your Eminence, who was born in the same noble and Catholic land that gave birth to the Saint, whose wondrous Life is now presented to the public.
Seville was one of the cities in which St. Teresa founded one of her convents, where, no doubt, the spirit of the holy Foundress still lives among her loving and devoted Daughters.
And your Eminence can well testify how, in spite of wars, revolutions, and the insidious attacks of infidelity, Religion has still maintained her ground ; while, in the midst of the deepest poverty, and of innumerable snares and temptations, the bishops, clergy, and Religious, have exhibited to the world models of the most enduring patience, and of the most exalted virtues.
Deeply, too, has Spain sympathized with our late afflic tions and persecutions, and with your Eminence in particular, for all the insults and calumnies which you have had to vii
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endure, but which have been borne with such fortitude and meekness.
And just as days of joy and gladness are now begin ning to dawn upon Spain, even so do we rejoice that your Eminence has lived to see the long-wished-for day, when our own beloved Land has at length been restored to her ancient and sacred Hierarchy, which we are confident no ' penal Laws" will ever be able again to overthrow.
May St. Teresa, whose noble soul so often sighed for the conversion of heretical lands, intercede for our own dis tracted country, so long separated from the See of Peter. May she intercede for your Eminence also, that length of days may be granted you to labor amongst us, with fruit a hundred fold.
I have the honor to be, my Lord Cardinal, your Eminence's most humble aiid respectful Servant,
JOHN DALTON.
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