The whole life of St. Teresa is filled with the most wholesome lessons. Let us point out some of them in a few words:

I. Teresa began in early youth, after the teachings of her pious parents, to read devout books; from this she first drew the spirit of piety. No sooner, however, had she become interested in reading worldly books, than she grew from day to day more indolent in the service of God; and she returned not to her first fervor, until she had cast aside those works, and again resumed her pious reading: a proof of the great benefit we may derive from devout books, and of the harm which worldly writings may do us. Oh! that those, who desire to live piously, may understand this, and conform their lives to it. Oh! that all Christians would guide their children from their early youth to the reading of devout books!

II. Teresa, after the death of her mother, chose the Blessed Virgin to be another mother to her, and sought and found in her, comfort and help in all her needs. Through her intercession and that of St. Joseph, she received the grace of being constant in her reform. Love Mary as your mother ; seek, with filial trust, consolation and help from her. St. Joseph should be one of your principal patrons, as his intercession is very powerful with the Almighty, and especially as he has now been solemnly declared the Patron Saint of the Universal Church.

III. The sight of the wounded Jesus filled the heart of St. Teresa with great contrition for her former indifferent life; it inflamed her with true love of God, and kept her until her end in these sentiments. Consider frequently how your Saviour suffered for your sake; and repent of your sins sincerely, as they were the cause of Christ's bitter Passion. Love your Redeemer with all the strength of your heart, and make the resolution to serve Him in future most fervently.

IV. Teresa saw the place in hell which would have been hers, if she had not discontinued her idle discourses and her indifference in the worship of the Most High. Hence, she often gave humble thanks to God that He had not condemned her, and she learned by it how hurtful even a menial sin can become, since it may lead us gradually to the path of everlasting perdition. You have still more reason to give thanks to God that He did not call you away in your sin.

How long would you already have been in hell? If idle, empty conversation would have led Teresa gradually into hell, what may you not have to fear if you do not abstain from so much sinful talking in which you indulge? Learn also that you should not esteem a venial sin, however small it appears to you, as trifling; for, it may slowly lead you to damnation.

Many other lessons, which the life of St. Teresa contains, I leave to yourself to consider. One thing only I request of you. Call to mind frequently the words which the Saint uttered in her ecstasy: "Only one God! Only one death! Only one soul! "Love this only God, and do not offend Him. Take earnest care of your only, your precious, your immortal soul. "Keep thyself, therefore, and thy soul carefully." (Deut., iv.)

Litany of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the Glory of Spain

Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, have mercy on us!
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, the Sanctifier,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us. *

Holy Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, *
Saint Teresa of Avila, *
St. Teresa, whose heart was transverberated by the love of God, *
St. Teresa, most humble servant of God, *
St. Teresa, most zealous for the glory of God, *
St. Teresa, woman truly strong in mind, *
St. Teresa, truly detached from all created objects, *
St. Teresa, great light of the Catholic Church, *
St. Teresa, reformer and glory of the Carmelite Order, *
St. Teresa, Queen of Mystical Theology, *
St. Teresa, lustrous name of Avila and Spain, *
St. Teresa, who didst forever glorify the name of Teresa, *
St. Teresa, wishing to suffer or to die, *
St. Teresa, exclaiming, O Lord, how sweet and pleasing are Thy ways! *
St. Teresa, desiring so much the salvation of souls, *
St. Teresa, tasting and seeing how sweet is the Lord, even in this vale of miseries, *
St. Teresa, exclaiming, O death, who can fear thee who art the way to true life! *
St. Teresa, true lover of the Cross of Christ, *
St. Teresa, who didst live to love, died to love, and wilt love eternally, *

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world:
Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world:
Hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world:
Have mercy on us.


V. Pray for us, O holy Saint Teresa:
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray

O God, Who didst replenish the heart of Thy blessed servant St. Teresa with the treasures of Thy divine love: grant that, like her, we may love Thee and suffer all things for Thee and in union with Thee; that we may gain souls to Thee, and secure our own; and this we beg through the merits of our Saviour and the intercession of Thy glorious virgin Teresa. Amen.

Blest messenger of heaven! thou didst
Thy home in childhood leave,
Intending to barbaric lands
Christ or thy blood to give.

But thee a sweeter death awaits;
A nobler fate is thine;
Pierced with a thousand heavenly darts,
To die of love divine.

Victim of perfect charity!
Our souls with love inspire;
And save the nations of thy charge
From everlasting fire.

Praise to the Father, with the Son,
And Holy Spirit, be;
Praise to the Blessed Three in One,
Through all eternity. Amen

Teresa's spirit on this day
In beauty took its upward way,
Pure as a white and shining dove,
To heaven's holy house above.

She heard the Bridegroom's joyful cry:
Come, Sister, come from Carmel high
The marriage of the Lamb to share;
Receive thy crown of glory there.

O Jesus, Bridegroom of the Blest,
By all the Virgins' choir confessed,
To thee forevermore belong
Their worship and their marriage song.
Amen.

O Seraphic virgin, St. Teresa, beloved spouse of the Crucified, thou who didst burn with such great love of God while on earth, and now burnest with a still purer and brighter flame in Heaven; thou who didst so greatly desire to see Him loved by all men, obtain for me too, I pray thee, a spark of that holy fire, whereby I may oppose the world, creatures, and myself; and grant that all my thoughts, desires, and affections may be ever employed in pursuing, whether in the midst of joys or of sufferings, the will of the Supreme Good, Who deserves our unbounded love and obedience. Oh, obtain for me this grace, thou who art so powerful with God, that, like thee, I may be all on fire with divine love.   Amen.

Let nothing trouble thee,
Let nothing affright thee.
All things pass away.
God never changes.
Patience obtains everything.
God alone suffices!

When crosses would afflict thee,
Oh! let thy watchword be,
Thy holy Mother's lesson,
"Let nothing trouble thee."

If darkness round thee gathers,
And fills thy soul with fear,
"Let nothing e'er affright thee,"
She whispers in thy ear.

In every joy or sorrow
Which meets thee day by day,
She bids thee to remember
That all things pass away."

If lonely or forsaken,
By friends thou art forgot,
Thy Spouse, she doth remind thee,
"Is one that changeth not."

When hope within thee wavers,
And distant seems the goal,
How patience winneth all things,
She tells thy weary soul,

That nothing in the wide world
Is needful unto one
Whose happy soul possesses
God's own eternal Son.

To drink the living waters
At any cost or price,
To quench thy thirst she whispers,
"God only doth suffice."

Oh! sweet, seraphic Mother,
May these dear words of thine
Help to unite me closer
Unto my Spouse divine!

When I was in the midst of the pleasures of the world, the remembrance of what I owed to God made me sad, and when I was praying to God my worldly affections disturbed me. This is so painful a struggle that I know not how I could have borne it for a month, let alone for so many years. Nevertheless, I can trace distinctly the great mercy of our Lord to me, while thus immersed in the world, in that I had still the courage to pray. I say courage, because I know of nothing in the whole world which requires greater courage than plotting treason against the King, knowing that He knows it, and yet never withdrawing from His presence; for, granting that we are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in His presence in a very different sense; for they, as it were, see that He is looking upon them, while others may be for days together without even once recollecting that God sees them.

It is true, indeed, that during these years there were many months, and, I believe, occasionally a whole year, in which I so kept guard over myself that I did not offend our Lord, gave myself much to prayer, and took some pains, and that successfully, not to offend Him. I speak of this now because all I am saying is strictly true; but I remember very little of those good days, and so they must have been few, while my evil days were many. Still, the days that passed over without my spending a great part of them in prayer were few, unless I was very ill, or very much occupied.

When I was ill, I was well with God. I contrived that those about me should be so, too, and I made supplications to our Lord for this grace, and spoke frequently of Him. Thus, with the exception of that year of which I have been speaking, during eight and twenty years of prayer, I spent more than eighteen in that strife and contention which arose out of my attempts to reconcile God and the world. As to the other years, of which I have now to speak, in them the grounds of the warfare, though it was not slight, were changed; but inasmuch as I was--at least, I think so--serving God, and aware of the vanity of the world, all has been pleasant, as I shall show hereafter.

The reason, then, of my telling this at so great length is that, as I have just said, the mercy of God and my ingratitude, on the one hand, may become known; and, on the other, that men may understand how great is the good which God works in a soul when He gives it a disposition to pray in earnest, though it may not be so well prepared as it ought to be. If that soul perseveres in spite of sins, temptations, and relapses, brought about in a thousand ways by Satan, our Lord will bring it at last--I am certain of it--to the harbor of salvation, as He has brought me myself; for so it seems to me now. May His Majesty grant I may never go back and be lost! He who gives himself to prayer is in possession of a great blessing, of which many saintly and good men have written--I am speaking of mental prayer--glory be to God for it! and, if they had not done so, I am not proud enough, though I have but little humility, to presume to discuss it.

I may speak of that which I know by experience; and so, I say, let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it, be his life ever so wicked; for prayer is the way to amend it, and without prayer such amendment will be much more difficult. Let him not be tempted by Satan, as I was, to give it up, on the pretense of humility; let him rather believe that His words are true Who says that, if we truly repent, and resolve never to offend Him, He will take us into His favor again, give us the graces He gave us before, and occasionally even greater, if our repentance deserves it. And as to him who has not begun to pray, I implore him by the love of our Lord not to deprive himself of so great a good.

Herein there is nothing to be afraid of, but everything to hope for. Granting that such a one does not advance, nor make an effort to become perfect, so as to merit the joys and consolations which the perfect receive from God, yet he will by little and little attain to a knowledge of the road which leads to heaven. And, if he perseveres, I hope in the mercy of God for him, seeing that no one ever took Him for his friend that was not amply rewarded; for mental prayer is nothing else, in my opinion, but being on terms of friendship with God, frequently conversing in secret with Him Who, we know, loves us. Now, true love and lasting friendship require certain dispositions; those of our Lord, we know, are absolutely perfect; ours, vicious, sensual, and thankless; and you cannot, therefore, bring yourselves to love Him, as He loves you, because you have not the disposition to do so; and if you do not love Him, yet, seeing how much it concerns you to have His friendship, and how great is His love for you, rise above that pain you feel at being much with Him Who is so different from you.

O infinite Goodness of my God! I seem to see Thee and myself in this relation to one another. O Joy of the angels! when I consider it, I wish I could wholly die of love! How true it is that Thou endurest those who will not endure Thee! Oh, how good a friend art Thou, O my Lord! how Thou comfortest and endurest, and also waitest for them to make themselves like unto Thee, and yet, in the meanwhile, art Thyself so patient of the state they are in! Thou takest into account the occasions during which they seek Thee, and for a moment of penitence forgettest their offences against Thyself.