Let’s read St Teresa of Avila’s “The Way of Perfection”.
Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD.
A Study Edition Prepared by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD.
ICS Publications, ISBN 978-0-935216-70-7
Chapter 37
- St Teresa does not yet proceed to the next lines of the Our Father at this point, but steps back and gives a summary of what she has found so far in her meditation. The Prayer is of “sublime perfection” since it scope encompasses everyone who prays it. Each can find the the prayer his own needs. For the contemplative, St Teresa sees in the prayer everything about contemplation and perfection in so few words that no other book is needed.
“We ought to give great praise to the Lord for the sublime perfection of this evangelical prayer. Each of us, daughters, can apply the prayer to her own needs since it was composed by such a good Master. I marvel to see that in so few words everything about contemplation and perfection is included; it seems we need to study no other book than this one.”
- The Lord left the prayer open to interpretation (“in obscure form”) so that each could petition according to his state in life, his needs and intentions. Contemplatives could ask for heavenly things while others (“those who still live on earth”) could ask for earthly things. But giving Him our will (“thy will be done”) and forgiving others (“forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”) is clear since it pertains to everyone. The degree may differ, but the essence of the surrendering of our will and of forgiving is the same for all.
“I have wondered why His Majesty did not explain more about these sublime and obscure things that we might all know about them. It has seemed to me that since this prayer was intended for general use so that each one could petition according to his own intention, be consoled, and think that he has a good understanding of the prayer, the Lord left it in this obscure form … Contemplatives … ask for the heavenly favors that can … Those who still live on earth … may ask also for bread.”
“But both should consider that two of the things mentioned pertain to all; giving Him our will and forgiving others. True, there is a more and a less in the degree to which this is done … The perfect will give their will in the way perfect souls do and forgive with that perfection that was mentioned.”
- Not only is the Our Father a perfect prayer, but it can be said with such perfection that you will receive the graces necessary to reach a high state. You don’t have to repeat it mindlessly, but just say it once with sincerity. The perfect, or nearly perfect, no longer fear anything since they have the greatest hope in these favors and are absorbed in their delights.
“We can say this prayer only once in such a way that the Lord will enrich us since He sees that we do so sincerely and are determined to do what we say … He knows that those who ask with perfection will be filled with such favors from His Father that they will reach a high state. In fact, those who are already perfect or those who are approaching it are not afraid of anything, nor should they be … they have the greatest hope … in the effects of the favors He grants them. Absorbed in these delights they don’t want to remember even that there is a world or that they have enemies.”
- But we do have enemies in this world, so the Lord needs to remind us lest we fall asleep, absorbed in His delights. So, the Our Father continues with the petitions to “lead us not into temptation” and to “deliver us from evil.”
“Thus since the Lord sees that it is necessary to awaken and remind us that we have enemies … and that we need much more help from the Eternal Father because our fall will be from a higher place … He makes the following petitions … ‘And lead us not, Lord, into temptation; but deliver us from evil.'”
Chapter 38
- Contemplatives not only do not avoid trials, but look for them, because there is much to be gained in undergoing trials. They are not afraid of public enemies, but of devils who tempt us to destroy our virtues. It is for this that we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation, but bring us into the light where we can see the deception.
“This is another very great and certain effect of the contemplation … these persons desire, ask for, and love trials. They are like soldiers who are happier when there are more wars because they then hope to earn more.”
“… those who experience contemplation and engage in prayer, are eager to fight. They never fear public enemies very much … Those whom they fear … are the traitorous enemies, the devils who transfigure themselves into angels of light, who come disguised … They suck away our blood and destroy our virtues … With regard to these enemies, daughters, let us ask and often beg the Lord in the Our Father to free us and not let us walk into temptation, so that they will not draw us into error or hide the light and truth from us, that the poison will be discovered.”
- The devils can feign delights from the Lord, but these are the least of harms because, even if the delights are not from God, the result is that we seek him more and still advance. The remedy against these false delights is humility, to think we do not deserve them and to not seek them out.
“Consider, daughters, the many ways these enemies can cause harm. Don’t think they do so only by making us suppose that the delights and consolations they can feign in us are from God. This seems to me the least harm … it could be that by means of this they will make one advance more quickly. For, in being fed on that delight, such a person will spend more hours in prayer … [So] strive always, Sisters, for humility and to see that you are unworthy of these favors; do not seek them.”
- We must beware that the devil can make us think we have virtues that we don’t! This makes us weak in humility and careless about growing in the virtue we think we already have. We can’t forget that God gives us virtue and He can take it away, and He often does to remind us of our utter dependence on Him! This is why sometimes we feel very detached and another time very attached to the same thing. If we are not genuinely walking in poverty of spirit, we are deluded and think we don’t need God. He will then abandon us for our own good! So we might learn humility, that there is nothing we haven’t received.
“The way the devil can do a great deal of harm, without our realizing it, is to make us believe we have virtues when we do not … it seems we are serving and giving and that the Lord is obliged to pay. Thus little by little this latter notion does great harm. On the one hand it weakens humility, and on the other hand we grow careless about acquiring that virtue we think we have already acquired.”
“If it seems the Lord has already given us virtue, let us understand that actually it has been received and that He can take it away, as in fact often happens, but not without His wonderful providence … Sometimes I think I am very detached … At another time I will find myself so attached, and perhaps to things that the day before I would have made fun of”
“Now since this is true, who will be able to say of himself that he is virtuous or rich? For at the very moment when there is need of virtue one finds oneself poor … The treasure will have to come from elsewhere … True, if we serve with humility, the Lord in the end will succor us in our needs; but if this poverty of spirit is not genuinely present at every step, as they say, the Lord will abandon us. And this abandonment by the Lord is one of His greatest favors, for He does it so that we might be humble and understand in truth that we have nothing we haven’t received.”
- St Teresa closes this chapter deepening her insight into the nature of pride. Whereas humility allows us to see ourselves as we truly are, pride blinds the sinner, as the psalmist says “But who can detect their own errors? From hidden faults acquit me. From presumption restrain your servant; may it not rule me. Then shall I be blameless, clean from grave sin. ” (Psalms 19:13-14) This is why we must always resist the temptation to think we possess some virtue. The humble person does not focus on how far he’s come, but how much further he has yet to go to achieve perfection. Focusing on his poverty in spirit, he sees how he is lacking, how he is incomplete, insufficient, and how he falls short.
“[If] the devil makes us think we have a virtue, let’s say of patience … I advise you not to pay any attention … For it will happen that with one displeasing word spoken to you, your patience will go tumbling to the ground. When you suffer often, praise God that He is beginning to teach you this virtue of patience and strive to endure, for the suffering is a sign that in this way He wants you to pay for the virtue.”
“The devil brings about another temptation. We think we are very poor in spirit and have the habit of saying that we don’t desire anything or that we couldn’t care less about anything. But hardly does the occasion arise to receive a gift … than our poverty of spirit is completely ruined. So often do we say we have this virtue that we end up believing we have it.”
“Great is the importance of always being careful to understand this temptation, both in the things I have mentioned as well as in many others … The truly humble person always walks in doubt about his own virtues, and usually those he sees in his neighbors seem more certain and more valuable.”
Chapter 39
- In this chapter, St Teresa gives us important advice regarding the discernment of humility. Since false humility can be very destructive to our spiritual growth she not only tells us how to identify it, but also how to remedy it.
- True humility calms the soul. Even though you see how wretched you are, this comes with a satisfaction you wouldn’t want to avoid and so the soul is not disquieted no matter how painful the self-knowledge is. Rather the suffering causes the soul to expand so it can serve God all the more. False humility, on the other hand, is from the devil and is very disquieting. It shrinks the soul. You feel unworthy to approach God in Communion or in prayer, and you waste your time on scrupulous self-examination. You feel abandoned by God and despair of His mercy. Everything seems dangerous and futile, and you are paralyzed with self-doubt.
“Now be also on your guard, daughters, against some types of humility given by the devil in which great disquiet is felt about the gravity of our sins. This disturbance can afflict in many ways even to the point of making one give up receiving Communion and practicing private prayer … the time they used to spend in receiving favors is now spent in wondering whether or not they are well prepared … the soul thinks God has abandoned it … it almost doubts His mercy. Everything it deals with seems dangerous …”
“… sometimes it will be through humility and virtue that you hold yourselves to be so wretched, and at other times it will be a gross temptation … Humility does not disturb … it comes with peace … Even though a person upon seeing himself so wretched understands clearly that he merits to be in hell … if the humility is genuine, [it] comes with a sweetness in itself and a satisfaction that he wouldn’t want to be without. The pain of genuine humility doesn’t agitate or afflict the soul; rather, this humility expands it …”
- This is a grave situation since you are mistaking false humility with a loss of confidence in God. St Teresa gives us a remedy: stop focusing on your misery; rather look to the mercy of God and how He suffered for us. If you can’t do that, at least recognize this as a temptation. Similarly, avoid excessive penances. If you want to hide them, you’re clearly going to far! Rather let your confessor know and strive to obey because there is greater perfection in obedience than in penance.
“I think the devil’s aim is to make us think we are humble and, in turn, if possible, make us lose confidence in God.”
“When you find yourselves in this condition, stop thinking about your misery, insofar as possible, and turn your thoughts to the mercy of God, to how He loves us and suffered for us. And if you are undergoing a temptation, you will not even be able to do this … It will be enough if you recognize that this is a temptation.”
“Likewise he tempts us in regard to excessive penances … If you hide them from your confessor or prioress, of if when told to stop you do not do so, you are clearly undergoing a temptation. Strive to obey, even if this may be more painful for you, since the greatest perfection lies in obedience.”
- Believing that you are forever stuck in sin is itself a sin, but another is the belief that we have grown past sinning. We should never rest in the idea that we will never return to past faults, no matter how many spiritual delights we experience. Rather, we should be ever vigilant that we can fall again. It might be helpful to discuss our spiritual experiences with others so that we remain in humility.
“The devil sets up another dangerous temptation: self-assurance in the thought that we will in no way return to our past faults and worldly pleasures … Thus, however many delights … the Lord gives you, never proceed with such self-assurance that you stop fearing lest you fall again; and be on guard against the occasions of sin.”
“Strive … to discuss these favors and consolations with someone who will enlighten you … however sublime the contemplation, let your prayer always begin and end with self-knowledge. And if the favor is from God, even though you may not want to follow the advice, you will still follow it most of the time because God’s favor brings humility and always leaves greater light that we may understand the little that we are.”
- Our worldly enemies are nothing compared to the knots into which the devil ties our soul. “More tortuous than anything is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) For this, only God has the remedy so we understand ourselves. We must pray for this since the devil especially tempts those on the path of prayer. Yet so few who recite the Our Father as St Teresa taught are actually deceived by the devil, that it really is surprising when it does happen.
“Let public enemies come … But these other treacheries; who will understand them, my God? We always need to pray to You for a remedy. Instruct us, Lord, so that we may understand ourselves and be secure.”
“What a strange thing! It’s as though the devil tempts only those who take the path of prayer. And everyone is more surprised by a mistake of one of those who are nearing perfection than by the public mistakes and sins of a hundred thousand others … people are right in being surprised, for among those who recite the Our Father … there are so very few deceived by the devil that … their mistake causes surprise.”
Closing Remarks: Reflecting on her meditation so far, St Teresa finds that the Our Father is a prayer of “sublime perfection” because of its generality. Anyone who prays it can find in it something for their needs, no matter their state in life. Contemplatives can ask for heavenly things while others can ask for their earthly needs. Only the lines “thy will be done” and “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” are clear and pertain to everyone. The degree of surrendering our wills or forgiving others may differ between people, but the essence is the same. We can reach a very high state of spiritual life just by saying this prayer with perfection. We don’t have to recite it repeatedly but need only pray it once with sincerity. The perfect find great hope in these favors and are so absorbed in their delights, that they forget that the have enemies! The Lord reminds them of this with the last lines of the Our Father, “and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Contemplatives are not afraid of trials because they know there is much to be gained spiritually from them. They are not afraid of public enemies. Its the devils who tempt us to destroy our virtues that they fear. This is why they need to ask the Lord not to lead them into temptation, but bring them into the light so the devil’s deception is revealed. He can even feign delights from the Lord, although these are of a lesser harm because they can lead us to seek God and still advance. The remedy against them is humility, the understanding that we do not deserve any spiritual delights and to not go out seeking them.
A much greater danger comes from the devil making us think we have virtues that we don’t actually possess. This can make us weak in humility and careless about the need to grow in virtue. We must always remember that God gives us everything, even virtue, and He can and does take it away to remind us of our utter dependence on Him! Just when we think we are detached from something, we find that later we are actually very attached to it! We must sincerely walk in poverty of spirit, always mindful that without His continuous outpouring of grace, we will loose strength and fall. If He sees us deluding ourselves about the source of our virtues, He will abandon us for our own good! To learn humility and that we depend on Him totally.
St Teresa shares with us her deep insight into the nature of pride. Whereas humility allows us to see ourselves as we truly are, all our defects, pride blinds the sinner to his sins. As the psalmist says “But who can detect their own errors? From hidden faults acquit me. From presumption restrain your servant; may it not rule me. Then shall I be blameless, clean from grave sin.” (Psalms 19:13-14) This is why we must always resist the temptation to think we possess some virtue. The humble person does not focus on how far he’s come, but how much further he has yet to go. Focusing on his poverty in spirit, he sees what is lacking, what is incomplete, insufficient, and fallen.
Discernment of humility is important because false humility can be spiritually destructive and needs to be remedied. We can recognize true humility because it calms the soul despite the fact that you see yourself as you truly are. This self-knowledge comes with such satisfaction that you willingly endure any pain in the disclosure of this knowledge and your soul is not disquieted. Rather the suffering causes the soul to expand so it can serve God more fully. On the other hand, false humility is from the devil and is very disquieting. You feel unworthy to approach God in Communion or in prayer and you waste your time in scruples. You despair of God’s mercy, feel abandoned and experience everything as dangerous and futile. This causes your soul to shrink and you are less able to serve God.
Thus false humility is a grave situation in which you are mistaking what you think is humility with a loss of confidence in God. The remedy is to shift your focus from your misery to God’s mercy and how He suffered for us. Sometimes the temptation is so great that you can’t even do that, so at the very least you can recognize that you are in temptation. Sometimes people in this state are given over to excessive penances. You should not hide these from your confessor and obey him in this regard because there is greater perfection in obedience than in penance.
Despairing that you are stuck in sin is a sin, and presumptuously believing that you have forever overcome sin is a sin. We can always return to past faults no matter how many spiritual delights we have received, so we must remain forever vigilant. Discussing our spiritual delights with a confidant may help to keep them in perspective and remain in humility.
Our worldly enemies are nothing compared to the devil which harms our soul with temptations against virtue. For the latter, only God can help so we can understand ourselves. The devil especially tempts those who pray! Yet few who recite the Our Father as St Teresa taught are actually deceived by the devil. It can happen, but when it does, it is surprising.