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Few tasks which I have been commanded to undertake by
obedience have been so difficult as this present one
of writing about matters relating to prayer: for one
reason, because I do not feel that the Lord has given
me either the spirituality or the desire for it; for
another, because for the last three months I have
been suffering from such noises and weakness in the
head that I find it troublesome to write even about
necessary business. But, as I know that strength
arising from obedience has a way of simplifying
things which seem impossible, my will very gladly
resolves to attempt this task although the prospect
seems to cause my physical nature great distress; for
the Lord has not given me strength enough to enable
me to wrestle continually both with sickness and with
occupations of many kinds without feeling a great
physical strain. May He Who has helped me by doing
other and more difficult things for me help also in
this: in His mercy I put my trust.
I really think I have little to say that I have not
already said in other books which I have been
commanded to write; indeed, I am afraid that I shall
do little but repeat myself, for I write as
mechanically[14] as birds taught to speak, which,
knowing nothing but what is taught them and what they
hear, repeat the same things again and again. If the
Lord wishes me to say anything new, His Majesty will
teach it me or be pleased to recall to my memory what
I have said on former occasions; and I should be
quite satisfied with this, for my memory is so bad
that I should be delighted if I could manage to write
down a few of the things which people have considered
well said, so that they should not be lost. If the
Lord should not grant me as much as this, I shall
still be the better for having tried, even if this
writing under obedience tires me and makes my head
worse, and if no one finds what I say of any profit.
And so I begin to fulfil my obligation on this Day of
the Holy Trinity, in the year MDLXXVII,[15] in this
convent of St. Joseph of Carmel in Toledo, where I am
at this present, submitting myself as regards all
that I say to the judgment of those who have
commanded me to write, and who are persons of great
learning. If I should say anything that is not in
conformity with what is held by the Holy Roman
Catholic Church,[16] it will be through ignorance and
not through malice. This may be taken as certain, and
also that, through God's goodness, I am, and shall
always be, as I always have been, subject to her. May
He be for ever blessed and glorified. Amen.
I was told by the person who commanded me to write
that, as the nuns of these convents of Our Lady of
Carmel need someone to solve their difficulties
concerning prayer, and as (or so it seemed to him)
women best understand each other's language, and also
in view of their love for me, anything I might say
would be particularly useful to them. For this reason
he thought that it would be rather important if I
could explain things clearly to them and for this
reason it is they whom I shall be addressing in what
I write -- and also because it seems ridiculous to
think that I can be of any use to anyone else. Our
Lord will be granting me a great favour if a single
one of these nuns should find that my words help her
to praise Him ever so little better. His Majesty well
knows that I have no hope of doing more, and, if I am
successful in anything that I may say, they will of
course understand that it does not come from me.
Their only excuse for crediting me with it could be
their having as little understanding as I have
ability in these matters if the Lord of His mercy
does not grant it me. |
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13. |
As a kind of sub-title St. Teresa
wrote on the back of the first page of the autograph: "This
treatise, called 'Interior Castle', was written by Teresa of
Jesus, nun of Our Lady of Carmel to her sisters and daughters
the Discalced Carmelite nuns." Below this is a note by P.
Ribera (formerly attributed to Fray Luis de Le�n) which
asserts [somewhat verbosely, for which reason the full text is
not here translated] that the marginal emendations in the
autograph are often inconsistent with other parts of the text
and in any case are inferior to the author's own words, and
begs readers to respect "the words and letters written by that
most holy hand". [It is noteworthy that the word "mansions (moradas:
n. 18, below), by which the book is generally known in Spain,
does not appear in the title or sub-title of the autograph,
though it occurs in the title of each of the seven sections of
the book.] |
14. |
Lit.: "literally." |
15. |
June 2, 1577. |
16. |
The words "Roman Catholic" are
inserted by the author interlineally. |
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