Maria Lucia Tcherassi, OCDS

“May He grant you to make continual progress in His service; for just as there is no limit in the rewards He gives, so we should never cease in our efforts to serve Him. We must make some progress, however little, every day and show some increase of fervour. We ought to act as if we were at war as, indeed, we are and never relax until we have won the victory.” (The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus. Letter 2. To her brother Lorenzo de Cepeda, Quito; from Avila, December 23, 1561)

We tend to think of saints as always immersed in prayer, contemplation, ecstasy, and levitation. But this excerpt from one of St. Teresa of Jesus’s letters reminds us that they, too, could delight in the little things of life without losing sight of the greater ones. “The grace of the Holy Spirit be with you and preserve you to me, and reward you for the trouble you have gone to in sending me presents. The butter was delicious, as I should have expected it to be, coming from you, and as everything is that you send me. I shall accept it in the hope that, when you have any more nice butter, you will remember me again, for it does me a lot of good. The quince cheese was delicious, too: really, you seem to be thinking of nothing but making me happy. And it has made me particularly so to get your letter and hear that you are well…” (The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus. Letter 23. To Doña Catalina Hurtado. October 31, 1570)

A beautiful teaching from St. Teresa of Jesus on the true nature of detachment found in a letter to her brother Lorenzo: “My confessor, Dr. Velazquez, was here today. I discussed with him what you said about wanting to give up using the carpets and silver, as I should not like you to cease making progress in God's service because I was not helping you, but there are things in which I do not trust my own opinion. In this, however, he agreed with me. He says it is of no importance one way or the other; what matters is that you should try to see how unimportant such things are and not become attached to them. It is right that you should have a suitably appointed house, as you will have to marry your sons one day. So just be patient for now: God always gives us opportunities to carry out our good desires, and He will give you a chance to carry out yours. May God watch over you for me and make you very holy. Amen. It is the tenth of February. And I am your servant, Teresa of Jesus.” (The letters of St. Teresa of Jesus. Letter 168. To Don Lorenzo de Cepeda. From Toledo. February 10, 1577)

“…thinking that I would do better to be always occupied in prayer, I heard the words: "While one is alive, progress doesn't come from trying to enjoy Me more but by trying to do My will."” (St. Teresa of Jesus. Spiritual Testimonies. 15)

“O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely that I may be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing trouble my peace or make me leave You, O my Unchanging One, but may each minute carry me further into the depths of Your Mystery. Give peace to my soul; make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling and Your resting place. May I never leave You there alone but be wholly present, my faith wholly vigilant, wholly adoring, and wholly surrendered to Your creative Action.” (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

“Our Father Who art in Heaven.…” It is in "this little heaven" that He has made in the center of our soul that we must seek Him and above all where we must remain.” (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. I Have Found God. Nine day. First Prayer)

"Because I love My Father, I do always the things that are pleasing to Him.” Thus spoke our holy Master, and every soul who wants to live close to Him must also live this maxim. The divine good pleasure must be its food, its daily bread; it must let itself be immolated by all the Father's wishes in the likeness of His adored Christ.” (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. I have found God. Third Day. Second Prayer)

“You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." St. Paul comes to bring us a light to guide us on the pathway of the abyss. "You have died"! What does that mean but that the soul that aspires to live close to God "in the invincible fortress of holy recollection" must be "set apart, stripped, and withdrawn from all things"" (in spirit). This soul "finds within itself a simple ascending movement of love to God, whatever creatures may do; it is invincible to things which" pass away, "for it transcends them, seeking God alone.” (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. I Have Found God. Third day. Second Prayer)

"As long as our will has fancies that are foreign to divine union, whims that are now yes, now no, we are like children; we do not advance with giant steps in love for fire has not yet burnt up all the alloy; the gold is not pure; we are still seeking our-selves; God has not consumed" all our hostility to Him. But when the boiling cauldron has consumed "every imperfect love, every imperfect sorrow, every imperfect fear," "then love is perfect and the golden ring of our alliance is larger than Heaven and earth. This is the secret cellar in which love places his elect," this "love leads us by ways and paths known to him alone; and he leads us with no turning back, for we will not retrace our steps." (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Heaven in Faith. First day. Second Prayer)

“Father, I will that where I am they also whom You have given Me may be with Me, in order that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, because You have loved Me before the creation of the world."' Such is Christ's last wish, His supreme prayer before returning to His Father. He wills that where He is we should be also, not only for eternity, but already in time, which is eternity begun and still in progress. It is important then to know where we must live with Him in order to realize His divine dream. "The place where the Son of God is hidden is the bosom of the Father, or the divine Essence, invisible to every mortal eye, unattainable by every human intellect”….The Trinity — this is our dwelling, our "home," the Father's house that we must never leave.” (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Heaven in Faith. First day. First Prayer)

“How sweet will be the death of the soul that has done penance for all its sins, of one who won't have to go to purgatory! Even from here below you can begin to enjoy glory! You will find no fear within yourself but complete peace.” (St.Teresa of Jesus. The Way of Perfection. Chap. 40.9)

“O souls that without fear already have fruition of your joy and are always absorbed in praises of my God, happy has been your lot! What great reason you have for being ever engaged in these praises. How my soul envies you, for you are already free from the sorrow such terrible offenses committed against my God cause in these unfortunate times, and from the sorrow of seeing so much ingratitude, and seeing that there is no awareness of the multitude of souls carried away by Satan. O blessed heavenly souls! Help our misery and be our intercessors before the divine mercy that we may be given some of your joy and a share in this clear knowledge you possess.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. Soliloquies. Chap. 13)

“…I have understood so well the little bit of power he has, provided I'm not against God, that I have almost no fear. The powers of devils are nothing if these devils do not find souls cowardly and surrendered to them; it is with such souls that they show their power.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Book of Her Life. Chap. 31.11)

“Oh, what a great thing it is to have resisted offending the Lord so that his slaves and servants in hell may be bound; for in the end all must serve him despite themselves. But those in hell do so by force, whereas we do so willingly. Therefore, if we please the Lord, those in hell will be kept bound; they will not do anything that may be harmful to us however much they might draw us into temptation and set secret snares for us.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Way of perfection. Chapter 41,2)

“I often experience that there is nothing the devils flee from more-without returning-than holy water. They also flee from the cross, but they return. The power of holy water must be great.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Book of Her Life. Chap. 31.4) “Keep some holy water near you, for there is nothing which puts an evil spirit to flight so effectively.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. Letter 168. To Don Lorenzo de Cepeda. February 10, 1577.)

“…pay no attention to the scarecrows the devils set up in order to cause fear. We should know that each time we pay no attention to them they are weakened, and the soul gains much more mastery.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Book of Her Life. Chap. 31.10)

“Oh, how different this life would have to be in order for one not to desire death! How our will deviates in its inclination from that which is the will of God. He wants us to love truth; we love the lie. He wants us to desire the eternal; we, here below, lean toward what comes to an end. He wants us to desire sublime and great things; we, here below, desire base and earthly things. He would want us to desire only what is secure; we, here below, love the dubious. Everything is a mockery, my daughters, except beseeching God to free us from these dangers forever and draw us at last away from every evil.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Way of Perfection. Chap. 42.4)

“Terrible are the wiles and deceits used by the devil so that souls may not know themselves or understand their own paths.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Interior Castle. Chap.1:2)

“… if we fail in love of neighbors we are lost… When you see yourselves lacking in this love, even though you have devotion and gratifying experiences that make you think you have reached this stage, and you experience some little suspension in the prayer of quiet (for to some it then appears that everything has been accomplished), believe me you have not reached union. And beg our Lord to give you this perfect love of neighbor.” (St. Teresa of Jesus. The Interior Castle. The Fifth Dwelling Places. Ch. 3)