#st-joseph-monastery — Public Fediverse posts
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I was very much disliked throughout my monastery [Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila] because I had wanted to found a more enclosed monastery. They said I was insulting them; that in my own monastery, I could also serve God since there were others in it better than I; that I had no love for the house; that it would be better to procure income for this place than for some other.
Several of them said I should be thrown into the prison cell; others—very few—defended me somewhat. I saw clearly that in many matters my opponents were right, and sometimes I gave them explanations.
Yet since I couldn’t mention the main factor, which was that the Lord had commanded me to do this, I didn’t know how to act; so I remained silent about the other things. God granted me the very great favor that none of all this disturbed me; rather, I gave up the plan with as much ease and contentment as I would have if it hadn’t cost me anything.
One day, while I was greatly troubled with the thought that my confessor didn’t believe me, the Lord told me not to be anxious, that that affliction would soon end. I rejoiced deeply, thinking His words meant I was soon to die; and I became very happy when I thought about it.
Afterward, I saw clearly they referred to the arrival of this rector I mentioned because the occasion for that pain never presented itself again [Gaspar de Salazar, S.J. arrived in April 1562].
The new rector didn’t restrain my confessor but rather told him to console me; that there was no reason for fear, and not to lead me by so confining a path; that he should let the spirit of the Lord work, for at times it seemed with these great spiritual impulses that my soul couldn’t even breathe.
My confessor gave me permission again to dedicate myself entirely to this foundation. I saw clearly the toil it would bring upon me since I was very much alone and had hardly any means.
We agreed to carry on in total secrecy, and so I got one of my sisters [Juana de Ahumada] who lived outside this city [in Alba de Tormes] to buy the house and fix it up, as though it were for herself, with money the Lord provided, in certain ways, for its purchase.
It would take long to recount how the Lord was looking after it, for I took great care not to do anything against obedience. But I knew that if I said anything to my superiors, everything would be lost as happened the previous time, and things would even be worse.
In procuring the money, acquiring the house, signing the contract for it, and fixing it up, I went through so many trials of so many kinds that now I’m amazed I was able to suffer them. In some of them, I was completely alone; although my companion did what she could. But she could do little, and so little that it almost amounted to nothing more than to have everything done in her name and as her gift and all the rest of the trouble was mine.
Sometimes in distress, I said:
“My Lord, how is it You command things that seem impossible? For if I were at least free, even though I am a woman! But bound on so many sides, without money or the means to raise it or to obtain the brief or anything, what can I do, Lord?“
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Book of Her Life, chap. 33, nos. 2, 8, 11
Note: Born in Toledo, and while studying at Alcalá, Gaspar de Salazar (1529-1593) decided to enter the Jesuits, which he did in 1552. Translator and editor Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD notes that Salazar’s chronicler described him as being very devoted to the interior life with God, from whom he received many favors in prayer, and also as very intelligent and competent in business matters. In 1562 he was transferred to Avila to be rector there of the Jesuit college of San Gil. Because of difficulties that arose between the college and the bishop, Don Alvaro de Mendoza, Salazar was removed from that office after only nine months. But in that short time, he came to Teresa’s aid by putting her spiritual director, Baltasar Alvarez, at ease about her, assuring him that he had nothing to fear. And when Teresa spoke to him of her experiences, he consoled her greatly and seemed to her to have a special gift of discerning spirits (cf. Life, 33:8-9).
Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: This is the cell St. Teresa occupied when she returned to the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila as its prioress (1571-1574). Image credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/01/stj-life33/
#Avila #confessor #construction #familyLife #foundation #Jesuits #MonasteryOfTheIncarnation #monasticLife #realEstate #StJosephMonastery #StTeresaOfAvila #trials
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I took for my advocate and lord the glorious St. Joseph
and earnestly recommended myself to him.Saint Teresa of Avila
The Book of Her Life, chap. 6, no. 6Introduction
Saint Teresa’s devotion to “the glorious St. Joseph” is well known in the Church. She dedicated her first monastery of the Carmelite reform in Avila to the patronage of Saint Joseph, and she entrusted her first novices in Avila to his care.
St. Teresa’s devotion to this great saint and protector of Carmel grew ever stronger during a crisis in her life. As a professed Carmelite nun in the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, she became gravely ill. Her condition was so serious that her friends and family believed she was dead. After she awoke from her comatose condition, her recovery was painfully slow.
Saint Edith Stein tells the story:
Teresa suffered for three years without asking for recovery. We do not know why she now changed her mind. She only tells us that she decided to beseech heaven to end her suffering.
With this intention, she asked that a Mass be offered and turned toward the saint in whom she had always had unlimited trust, and who owes to her zeal the increased veneration shown him.
“I do not know how to think about the Queen of Angels, about all of her pains and cares with the little child Jesus without thanking St. Joseph for the dedication with which he came to the help of both of them” [Life, 6:8]. She ascribed her healing to him.
Soon he came to my rescue in very obvious ways. This most beloved father and lord of my soul quickly freed me of the weakness and suffering to which my body was consigned. . . . I don’t recall that he ever denied me anything. St. Joseph permitted his power and goodness to me to become evident. Through him, I regained my strength. I stood up, walked, and was free of the paralysis. [cf. Life, 6:6–8]
In this year’s novena to St. Joseph, we will return to the source of all devotion to St. Joseph in the Teresian Carmel: the experience and witness of St. Teresa of Avila.
In the same way that Teresa turned to Joseph in her hour of greatest need and received all that she desired—and more, besides—so we, too, may turn to Joseph and present him our needs.
May these excerpts from sacred scripture and Teresa’s writings inspire us to “go to Joseph” (cf. Gen 41:55) and take him for our advocate, trusting in his powerful intercession for all our deepest needs.
Pray each day with Saints Joseph and Teresa
- Day 1
The doctors of heaven - Day 2
My advocate and lord - Day 3
All the solemnity possible - Day 4
The desire to persuade - Day 5
My petition is always granted - Day 6
A great obligation - Day 7
St. Joseph appeared to me - Day 8
Giving thanks to St. Joseph - Day 9
I could rise and walk
Novena Prayer
St. Joseph, Man of peace,
You were a tower of strength and a steady refuge
for the Child Jesus and His Virgin Mother.
We call upon you to be our support in times of difficulty.(Mention your intentions here)
Teach us to be serene under the Heavenly
Father’s guiding hand during the challenges that we face.
We entrust to your intercession all of our intentions,
for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for the whole world.
Please provide for us a home of refuge and peace.Our Father…
“Strive to pray with attention” (Way of Perfection, 24:6)
Glory be…
“The Trinity is in our souls by presence, power, and essence” (Spiritual Testimonies, 49)
Our novena prayer to St. Joseph comes from the Carmel of St. Joseph, Terre Haute, Indiana USA
All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.
Stein, E. 2014, The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts, translated from the German by Stein, W, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/03/09/joenovena24-i/
#advocate #Avila #intercession #Lord #novena #prayer #StJoseph #StJosephMonastery #StTeresaOfAvila
- Day 1