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God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.
The Interior Castle, VI, ch. 10, no. 7
Novena Introduction: Humility and Truth
In her writings, St. Teresa of Avila reveals that the way of perfection is a path paved with truth and humility. These virtues are not only foundational but indispensable to spiritual maturity, no matter our state in life. Whether we are engaged in work, family, service, or prayer, humility is the first step on the path toward God (cf. Way of Perfection, 17:1; Mt 23:12). As we walk this path, we must take the lowest place, as Teresa teaches, preparing ourselves with humility and allowing God to guide us as he wills. Just as she reminds us that all spiritual progress is rooted in humility, so too does she call us to walk humbly in the truth of who we are before God.
St. Teresa teaches that humility is not simply a virtue but the essential disposition we must cultivate to receive God’s grace (cf. Ja 4:6). She reminds us that true humility is “great readiness to be content with whatever the Lord may want to do with them and in always finding oneself unworthy to be called his servant” (Way of Perfection, 17:6). By embracing humility, we open ourselves to receiving the truth of who we are before God—weak, dependent, and in need of his mercy. This recognition of our unworthiness is not self-deprecating but an honest acknowledgment that apart from God, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5).
This novena draws upon the central themes of Teresa’s teaching—truth, humility, and love. As St. Teresa reminds us, “God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.” To walk in humility, then, is to surrender our desire to control our spiritual growth, trusting that God, who is Truth, knows what is best for us. It means embracing the cross, as Teresa so often emphasized, allowing suffering to become a means of union with Christ. Walking in truth and humility also means loving God and our neighbor not just with words, but with action, reflecting the truth of God’s love in every aspect of our lives.
Let this novena be a time of humble surrender, that we may listen to God’s voice and open our hearts to his truth. As we meditate on the words of St. Teresa and the Scriptures, may we grow in the virtues of humility and truth, and may we experience the deep peace that comes from knowing and loving God.
Novena Meditations
Join us as we pray every day! As our novena unfolds, each day you will see a new link for our meditations from St. Teresa of Avila.
- Day 1
Recognizing God’s Supreme Truth - Day 2
Humility in God’s Presence - Day 3
Loving God Truthfully - Day 4
Humility as the Foundation - Day 5
God Alone is Truth - Day 6
The Truth of Love for Our Neighbor - Day 7
Knowing and Loving God - Day 8
Suffering as the Way of Truth - Day 9
Walking in Truth and Humility
Novena Prayer
O Holy Mother Saint Teresa, look down from heaven and see: visit this vine and protect what thy right hand hath planted.
(Mention your intentions)
Merciful God, who by thy Spirit didst raise up thy servant Saint Teresa of Jesus to reveal to thy Church the way of perfection: grant that her teaching may awaken in us a longing for holiness until assisted by her intercession, we attain to the perfect union of love in Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…
Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8R2k7J6I14
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.
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.
Featured image: This anonymous 17th-century Spanish oil on canvas painting depicts St. Teresa of Avila, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, holding her writing quill with her right hand. It comes from the collections of the Prado Museum in Madrid and is on loan to another institution. Image credit: Copyright ©Museo Nacional del Prado (Used by permission)
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/2024/10/05/stjnovena24-0/
#God #humility #love #novena #prayer #StTeresaOfAvila #truth #virtue #walk #WayOfPerfection
- Day 1
-
God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.
The Interior Castle, VI, ch. 10, no. 7
Novena Introduction: Humility and Truth
In her writings, St. Teresa of Avila reveals that the way of perfection is a path paved with truth and humility. These virtues are not only foundational but indispensable to spiritual maturity, no matter our state in life. Whether we are engaged in work, family, service, or prayer, humility is the first step on the path toward God (cf. Way of Perfection, 17:1; Mt 23:12). As we walk this path, we must take the lowest place, as Teresa teaches, preparing ourselves with humility and allowing God to guide us as he wills. Just as she reminds us that all spiritual progress is rooted in humility, so too does she call us to walk humbly in the truth of who we are before God.
St. Teresa teaches that humility is not simply a virtue but the essential disposition we must cultivate to receive God’s grace (cf. Ja 4:6). She reminds us that true humility is “great readiness to be content with whatever the Lord may want to do with them and in always finding oneself unworthy to be called his servant” (Way of Perfection, 17:6). By embracing humility, we open ourselves to receiving the truth of who we are before God—weak, dependent, and in need of his mercy. This recognition of our unworthiness is not self-deprecating but an honest acknowledgment that apart from God, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5).
This novena draws upon the central themes of Teresa’s teaching—truth, humility, and love. As St. Teresa reminds us, “God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.” To walk in humility, then, is to surrender our desire to control our spiritual growth, trusting that God, who is Truth, knows what is best for us. It means embracing the cross, as Teresa so often emphasized, allowing suffering to become a means of union with Christ. Walking in truth and humility also means loving God and our neighbor not just with words, but with action, reflecting the truth of God’s love in every aspect of our lives.
Let this novena be a time of humble surrender, that we may listen to God’s voice and open our hearts to his truth. As we meditate on the words of St. Teresa and the Scriptures, may we grow in the virtues of humility and truth, and may we experience the deep peace that comes from knowing and loving God.
Novena Meditations
Join us as we pray every day! As our novena unfolds, each day you will see a new link for our meditations from St. Teresa of Avila.
- Day 1
Recognizing God’s Supreme Truth - Day 2
Humility in God’s Presence - Day 3
Loving God Truthfully - Day 4
Humility as the Foundation - Day 5
God Alone is Truth - Day 6
The Truth of Love for Our Neighbor - Day 7
Knowing and Loving God - Day 8
Suffering as the Way of Truth - Day 9
Walking in Truth and Humility
Novena Prayer
O Holy Mother Saint Teresa, look down from heaven and see: visit this vine and protect what thy right hand hath planted.
(Mention your intentions)
Merciful God, who by thy Spirit didst raise up thy servant Saint Teresa of Jesus to reveal to thy Church the way of perfection: grant that her teaching may awaken in us a longing for holiness until assisted by her intercession, we attain to the perfect union of love in Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…
Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8R2k7J6I14
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.
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.
Featured image: This anonymous 17th-century Spanish oil on canvas painting depicts St. Teresa of Avila, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, holding her writing quill with her right hand. It comes from the collections of the Prado Museum in Madrid and is on loan to another institution. Image credit: Copyright ©Museo Nacional del Prado (Used by permission)
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/2024/10/05/stjnovena24-0/
#God #humility #love #novena #prayer #StTeresaOfAvila #truth #virtue #walk #WayOfPerfection
- Day 1
-
God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.
The Interior Castle, VI, ch. 10, no. 7
Novena Introduction: Humility and Truth
In her writings, St. Teresa of Avila reveals that the way of perfection is a path paved with truth and humility. These virtues are not only foundational but indispensable to spiritual maturity, no matter our state in life. Whether we are engaged in work, family, service, or prayer, humility is the first step on the path toward God (cf. Way of Perfection, 17:1; Mt 23:12). As we walk this path, we must take the lowest place, as Teresa teaches, preparing ourselves with humility and allowing God to guide us as he wills. Just as she reminds us that all spiritual progress is rooted in humility, so too does she call us to walk humbly in the truth of who we are before God.
St. Teresa teaches that humility is not simply a virtue but the essential disposition we must cultivate to receive God’s grace (cf. Ja 4:6). She reminds us that true humility is “great readiness to be content with whatever the Lord may want to do with them and in always finding oneself unworthy to be called his servant” (Way of Perfection, 17:6). By embracing humility, we open ourselves to receiving the truth of who we are before God—weak, dependent, and in need of his mercy. This recognition of our unworthiness is not self-deprecating but an honest acknowledgment that apart from God, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5).
This novena draws upon the central themes of Teresa’s teaching—truth, humility, and love. As St. Teresa reminds us, “God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.” To walk in humility, then, is to surrender our desire to control our spiritual growth, trusting that God, who is Truth, knows what is best for us. It means embracing the cross, as Teresa so often emphasized, allowing suffering to become a means of union with Christ. Walking in truth and humility also means loving God and our neighbor not just with words, but with action, reflecting the truth of God’s love in every aspect of our lives.
Let this novena be a time of humble surrender, that we may listen to God’s voice and open our hearts to his truth. As we meditate on the words of St. Teresa and the Scriptures, may we grow in the virtues of humility and truth, and may we experience the deep peace that comes from knowing and loving God.
Novena Meditations
Join us as we pray every day! As our novena unfolds, each day you will see a new link for our meditations from St. Teresa of Avila.
- Day 1
Recognizing God’s Supreme Truth - Day 2
Humility in God’s Presence - Day 3
Loving God Truthfully - Day 4
Humility as the Foundation - Day 5
God Alone is Truth - Day 6
The Truth of Love for Our Neighbor - Day 7
Knowing and Loving God - Day 8
Suffering as the Way of Truth - Day 9
Walking in Truth and Humility
Novena Prayer
O Holy Mother Saint Teresa, look down from heaven and see: visit this vine and protect what thy right hand hath planted.
(Mention your intentions)
Merciful God, who by thy Spirit didst raise up thy servant Saint Teresa of Jesus to reveal to thy Church the way of perfection: grant that her teaching may awaken in us a longing for holiness until assisted by her intercession, we attain to the perfect union of love in Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…
Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8R2k7J6I14
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.
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.
Featured image: This anonymous 17th-century Spanish oil on canvas painting depicts St. Teresa of Avila, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, holding her writing quill with her right hand. It comes from the collections of the Prado Museum in Madrid and is on loan to another institution. Image credit: Copyright ©Museo Nacional del Prado (Used by permission)
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/2024/10/05/stjnovena24-0/
#God #humility #love #novena #prayer #StTeresaOfAvila #truth #virtue #walk #WayOfPerfection
- Day 1
-
God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.
The Interior Castle, VI, ch. 10, no. 7
Novena Introduction: Humility and Truth
In her writings, St. Teresa of Avila reveals that the way of perfection is a path paved with truth and humility. These virtues are not only foundational but indispensable to spiritual maturity, no matter our state in life. Whether we are engaged in work, family, service, or prayer, humility is the first step on the path toward God (cf. Way of Perfection, 17:1; Mt 23:12). As we walk this path, we must take the lowest place, as Teresa teaches, preparing ourselves with humility and allowing God to guide us as he wills. Just as she reminds us that all spiritual progress is rooted in humility, so too does she call us to walk humbly in the truth of who we are before God.
St. Teresa teaches that humility is not simply a virtue but the essential disposition we must cultivate to receive God’s grace (cf. Ja 4:6). She reminds us that true humility is “great readiness to be content with whatever the Lord may want to do with them and in always finding oneself unworthy to be called his servant” (Way of Perfection, 17:6). By embracing humility, we open ourselves to receiving the truth of who we are before God—weak, dependent, and in need of his mercy. This recognition of our unworthiness is not self-deprecating but an honest acknowledgment that apart from God, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5).
This novena draws upon the central themes of Teresa’s teaching—truth, humility, and love. As St. Teresa reminds us, “God is supreme Truth; and to be humble is to walk in truth.” To walk in humility, then, is to surrender our desire to control our spiritual growth, trusting that God, who is Truth, knows what is best for us. It means embracing the cross, as Teresa so often emphasized, allowing suffering to become a means of union with Christ. Walking in truth and humility also means loving God and our neighbor not just with words, but with action, reflecting the truth of God’s love in every aspect of our lives.
Let this novena be a time of humble surrender, that we may listen to God’s voice and open our hearts to his truth. As we meditate on the words of St. Teresa and the Scriptures, may we grow in the virtues of humility and truth, and may we experience the deep peace that comes from knowing and loving God.
Novena Meditations
Join us as we pray every day! As our novena unfolds, each day you will see a new link for our meditations from St. Teresa of Avila.
- Day 1
Recognizing God’s Supreme Truth - Day 2
Humility in God’s Presence - Day 3
Loving God Truthfully - Day 4
Humility as the Foundation - Day 5
God Alone is Truth - Day 6
The Truth of Love for Our Neighbor - Day 7
Knowing and Loving God - Day 8
Suffering as the Way of Truth - Day 9
Walking in Truth and Humility
Novena Prayer
O Holy Mother Saint Teresa, look down from heaven and see: visit this vine and protect what thy right hand hath planted.
(Mention your intentions)
Merciful God, who by thy Spirit didst raise up thy servant Saint Teresa of Jesus to reveal to thy Church the way of perfection: grant that her teaching may awaken in us a longing for holiness until assisted by her intercession, we attain to the perfect union of love in Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord; who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…
Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8R2k7J6I14
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.
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.
Featured image: This anonymous 17th-century Spanish oil on canvas painting depicts St. Teresa of Avila, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, holding her writing quill with her right hand. It comes from the collections of the Prado Museum in Madrid and is on loan to another institution. Image credit: Copyright ©Museo Nacional del Prado (Used by permission)
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/2024/10/05/stjnovena24-0/
#God #humility #love #novena #prayer #StTeresaOfAvila #truth #virtue #walk #WayOfPerfection
- Day 1
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When I began to take the first steps toward founding this monastery (for the reasons given in the book I mentioned that I wrote and also because of some great favors from the Lord through which I learned that He would be greatly served in this house), it was not my intention that there be so much external austerity or that the house have no income; on the contrary, I would have desired the possibility that nothing be lacking.
In sum, my intention was the intention of the weak and wretched person that I am—although I did have some good motives besides those involving my own comfort.
At that time news reached me of the harm being done in France and of the havoc the Lutherans had caused and how much this miserable sect was growing. The news distressed me greatly, and, as though I could do something or were something, I cried to the Lord and begged Him that I might remedy so much evil.
It seemed to me that I would have given a thousand lives to save one soul out of the many that were being lost there. I realized I was a woman and wretched and incapable of doing any of the useful things I desired to do in the service of the Lord.
All my longing was and still is that since He has so many enemies and so few friends that these few friends be good ones.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection, chap. 1, nos. 1–2
Note: This Quote of the Day marks our 4000th post on the Carmelite Quotes blog. This opening passage from St. Teresa’s Way of Perfection beautifully summarizes why we engage in this apostolate: “All my longing was and still is that since He has so many enemies and so few friends that these few friends be good ones.” We are deeply grateful to our readers, social media followers, and the Carmelites who have supported us over the years. Your dedication to reading, liking, commenting, and sharing these quotes from Carmelite saints and authors fuels our efforts. As always, keep coming back and bring your friends!
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: Monjas Carmelitas ante Ávila by the Italian painter Guido Caprotti was executed in oil on canvas in 1938. It forms part of the Caprotti Collection in the Palacio Superunda, Avila. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/10/teresa-way1/
#evangelization #friends #intercession #JesusChrist #longing #loveYourEnemies #salvation #souls #StTeresaOfAvila #WayOfPerfection
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St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 5: Trust
Reading
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
Sayings of Light and Love, 66
Scripture
Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.Meditation
Oh, blessed tribulation, that sure sign that God is madly in love with you.
Tribulation is a word that is no longer part of our daily vocabulary. It appears in word puzzles and still makes its way into Hollywood film scripts, although it sounds more appropriate coming from the lips of the revered British actor Charles Laughton, whose King Herod once posed the legendary rhetorical question: “Why does the prophet visit me with worse than the tribulations of Job?”
Saint Teresa of Jesus understood what Saint John of the Cross meant when he was writing about tribulation because she had seen her fair share of it in her lifetime. Here’s just one example from Testimony 53 written in Seville, 8 November 1575:
On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days over the remembrance of my great sins and because of some fears of my being persecuted that had no foundation, except that false testimony was going to be raised [She had been falsely accused before the Inquisition of Seville]. And all the courage I usually have for suffering left me. Although I wanted to encourage myself, and I made acts and reflected that this suffering would be very beneficial to my soul, all these actions helped me little. For the fear didn’t go away, and what I felt was a vexing war. I chanced upon a letter in which my good Father [Jerome Gracián, Discalced Carmelite and Apostolic Visitor] refers to what St. Paul says, that God does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can suffer (1 Cor 10:13). That comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough. Rather, the next day I became sorely afflicted in seeing I was without him, since I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation. It seemed to me I was living in great loneliness, and this loneliness increased when I saw that there was no one now but him who might give me comfort and that he had to be absent most of the time, which was a great torment to me.
On the next night, while reading in a book a saying of St. Paul which began to console me, I was thinking of how present our Lord had previously been to me, for He had so truly seemed to be the living God. While I was thinking about this, He appeared in an intellectual vision, very deep within me, as though on the side where the heart is, and said: “Here I am, but I want you to see what little you can do without Me.”
I felt reassured right away, and all my fears were gone. While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: “Don’t be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union.”
This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone.
Now, we may not be falsely accused before the Inquisition, but in our daily lives, we see plenty of tribulation. And Saint Teresa makes it clear that if we are seeking to make love our ambition, to grow in that untiring love of which St. John of the Cross speaks, then we will be blessed with tribulation.
Blessed with tribulation?
“It is clear that since God wants to lead those whom He greatly loves by the path of tribulation—and the more He loves them the greater the tribulation—there is no reason to think that He despises contemplatives, for with His own mouth He praises them and considers them His friends.” (Way 18:1)
But what if I don’t want to be a contemplative?
For the faithful, this truly is not an option if we desire to be united with Christ in heaven, where we will be contemplatives for all eternity! St. Paul writes, “and we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Catechism reminds us:
Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision.”
Citing St. Cyprian, the Catechism continues:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends. (CCC 1028)
To be able to contemplate Christ for all eternity, the tribulation is worth it.
We notice that a great Saint and Doctor of the Church like Our Holy Mother Teresa was not immune from tribulation and anxiety. She was suffering terribly: there were “very troublesome days” and fears of being persecuted. She had lost her courage, and every remedy, every action that normally helped in past situations didn’t help at all. She was stuck in her fears and left with what she calls a guerra desabrida… a rather unsavory war—fruitless, vexing, and pointless. Even reading a letter from the priest who meant more to her than any other friar in the world couldn’t console her; his advice was to read St. Paul, but she admitted that it “comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough.”
Poor St. Teresa, she was really in emotional distress and in a spiritual bind. The next day she became even more upset because Father Gracián wasn’t there to encourage and console her in her anxiety. “I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation” and for her, the loneliness seemed to be the worst part.
St. John of the Cross says that it’s in times like these that we must “immediately draw near to God with trust” and that is exactly what St. Teresa did. She didn’t give up praying, seeking, and hoping, and she didn’t abandon God. Quite the opposite: she continued to draw near to God, even though He seemed distant or hiding. It seems that she may have had difficulty praying with peace, so she turned to spiritual reading instead.
Now, the Lord made himself known to St. Teresa at that moment through a mystical experience. However, that may not necessarily be the path the Lord chooses for each one of us. What St. John of the Cross explains is that if we draw near to God with trust, then we will receive “strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity gives the following advice to ordinary folks like you and I for how best to draw near to God when troubled or anxious in those moments that St. John and St. Teresa called “tribulation”:
You must build a little cell within your soul as I do. Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time; when you feel nervous or you’re unhappy, quickly seek refuge there and tell the Master all about it.
Ah, if you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you anymore; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go (Letter 123).
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
The Escape of St John of the Cross
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
18th c. French
Oil on canvas, 1768
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
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.
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. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#anxiety #doctorOfTheChurch #elizabethCatez #enlightenment #icsPublications #inquisition #instruction #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #loneliness #novena #persecution #psalms #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresa #stTeresaOfAvila #stTeresaOfJesus #strength #teresa #tribulation #troubles #trust #wayOfPerfection #worries
-
St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 5: Trust
Reading
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
Sayings of Light and Love, 66
Scripture
Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.Meditation
Oh, blessed tribulation, that sure sign that God is madly in love with you.
Tribulation is a word that is no longer part of our daily vocabulary. It appears in word puzzles and still makes its way into Hollywood film scripts, although it sounds more appropriate coming from the lips of the revered British actor Charles Laughton, whose King Herod once posed the legendary rhetorical question: “Why does the prophet visit me with worse than the tribulations of Job?”
Saint Teresa of Jesus understood what Saint John of the Cross meant when he was writing about tribulation because she had seen her fair share of it in her lifetime. Here’s just one example from Testimony 53 written in Seville, 8 November 1575:
On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days over the remembrance of my great sins and because of some fears of my being persecuted that had no foundation, except that false testimony was going to be raised [She had been falsely accused before the Inquisition of Seville]. And all the courage I usually have for suffering left me. Although I wanted to encourage myself, and I made acts and reflected that this suffering would be very beneficial to my soul, all these actions helped me little. For the fear didn’t go away, and what I felt was a vexing war. I chanced upon a letter in which my good Father [Jerome Gracián, Discalced Carmelite and Apostolic Visitor] refers to what St. Paul says, that God does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can suffer (1 Cor 10:13). That comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough. Rather, the next day I became sorely afflicted in seeing I was without him, since I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation. It seemed to me I was living in great loneliness, and this loneliness increased when I saw that there was no one now but him who might give me comfort and that he had to be absent most of the time, which was a great torment to me.
On the next night, while reading in a book a saying of St. Paul which began to console me, I was thinking of how present our Lord had previously been to me, for He had so truly seemed to be the living God. While I was thinking about this, He appeared in an intellectual vision, very deep within me, as though on the side where the heart is, and said: “Here I am, but I want you to see what little you can do without Me.”
I felt reassured right away, and all my fears were gone. While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: “Don’t be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union.”
This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone.
Now, we may not be falsely accused before the Inquisition, but in our daily lives, we see plenty of tribulation. And Saint Teresa makes it clear that if we are seeking to make love our ambition, to grow in that untiring love of which St. John of the Cross speaks, then we will be blessed with tribulation.
Blessed with tribulation?
“It is clear that since God wants to lead those whom He greatly loves by the path of tribulation—and the more He loves them the greater the tribulation—there is no reason to think that He despises contemplatives, for with His own mouth He praises them and considers them His friends.” (Way 18:1)
But what if I don’t want to be a contemplative?
For the faithful, this truly is not an option if we desire to be united with Christ in heaven, where we will be contemplatives for all eternity! St. Paul writes, “and we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Catechism reminds us:
Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision.”
Citing St. Cyprian, the Catechism continues:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends. (CCC 1028)
To be able to contemplate Christ for all eternity, the tribulation is worth it.
We notice that a great Saint and Doctor of the Church like Our Holy Mother Teresa was not immune from tribulation and anxiety. She was suffering terribly: there were “very troublesome days” and fears of being persecuted. She had lost her courage, and every remedy, every action that normally helped in past situations didn’t help at all. She was stuck in her fears and left with what she calls a guerra desabrida… a rather unsavory war—fruitless, vexing, and pointless. Even reading a letter from the priest who meant more to her than any other friar in the world couldn’t console her; his advice was to read St. Paul, but she admitted that it “comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough.”
Poor St. Teresa, she was really in emotional distress and in a spiritual bind. The next day she became even more upset because Father Gracián wasn’t there to encourage and console her in her anxiety. “I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation” and for her, the loneliness seemed to be the worst part.
St. John of the Cross says that it’s in times like these that we must “immediately draw near to God with trust” and that is exactly what St. Teresa did. She didn’t give up praying, seeking, and hoping, and she didn’t abandon God. Quite the opposite: she continued to draw near to God, even though He seemed distant or hiding. It seems that she may have had difficulty praying with peace, so she turned to spiritual reading instead.
Now, the Lord made himself known to St. Teresa at that moment through a mystical experience. However, that may not necessarily be the path the Lord chooses for each one of us. What St. John of the Cross explains is that if we draw near to God with trust, then we will receive “strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity gives the following advice to ordinary folks like you and I for how best to draw near to God when troubled or anxious in those moments that St. John and St. Teresa called “tribulation”:
You must build a little cell within your soul as I do. Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time; when you feel nervous or you’re unhappy, quickly seek refuge there and tell the Master all about it.
Ah, if you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you anymore; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go (Letter 123).
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
The Escape of St John of the Cross
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
18th c. French
Oil on canvas, 1768
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
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.
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. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#anxiety #doctorOfTheChurch #elizabethCatez #enlightenment #icsPublications #inquisition #instruction #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #loneliness #novena #persecution #psalms #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresa #stTeresaOfAvila #stTeresaOfJesus #strength #teresa #tribulation #troubles #trust #wayOfPerfection #worries
-
St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 5: Trust
Reading
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
Sayings of Light and Love, 66
Scripture
Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.Meditation
Oh, blessed tribulation, that sure sign that God is madly in love with you.
Tribulation is a word that is no longer part of our daily vocabulary. It appears in word puzzles and still makes its way into Hollywood film scripts, although it sounds more appropriate coming from the lips of the revered British actor Charles Laughton, whose King Herod once posed the legendary rhetorical question: “Why does the prophet visit me with worse than the tribulations of Job?”
Saint Teresa of Jesus understood what Saint John of the Cross meant when he was writing about tribulation because she had seen her fair share of it in her lifetime. Here’s just one example from Testimony 53 written in Seville, 8 November 1575:
On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days over the remembrance of my great sins and because of some fears of my being persecuted that had no foundation, except that false testimony was going to be raised [She had been falsely accused before the Inquisition of Seville]. And all the courage I usually have for suffering left me. Although I wanted to encourage myself, and I made acts and reflected that this suffering would be very beneficial to my soul, all these actions helped me little. For the fear didn’t go away, and what I felt was a vexing war. I chanced upon a letter in which my good Father [Jerome Gracián, Discalced Carmelite and Apostolic Visitor] refers to what St. Paul says, that God does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can suffer (1 Cor 10:13). That comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough. Rather, the next day I became sorely afflicted in seeing I was without him, since I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation. It seemed to me I was living in great loneliness, and this loneliness increased when I saw that there was no one now but him who might give me comfort and that he had to be absent most of the time, which was a great torment to me.
On the next night, while reading in a book a saying of St. Paul which began to console me, I was thinking of how present our Lord had previously been to me, for He had so truly seemed to be the living God. While I was thinking about this, He appeared in an intellectual vision, very deep within me, as though on the side where the heart is, and said: “Here I am, but I want you to see what little you can do without Me.”
I felt reassured right away, and all my fears were gone. While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: “Don’t be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union.”
This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone.
Now, we may not be falsely accused before the Inquisition, but in our daily lives, we see plenty of tribulation. And Saint Teresa makes it clear that if we are seeking to make love our ambition, to grow in that untiring love of which St. John of the Cross speaks, then we will be blessed with tribulation.
Blessed with tribulation?
“It is clear that since God wants to lead those whom He greatly loves by the path of tribulation—and the more He loves them the greater the tribulation—there is no reason to think that He despises contemplatives, for with His own mouth He praises them and considers them His friends.” (Way 18:1)
But what if I don’t want to be a contemplative?
For the faithful, this truly is not an option if we desire to be united with Christ in heaven, where we will be contemplatives for all eternity! St. Paul writes, “and we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Catechism reminds us:
Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision.”
Citing St. Cyprian, the Catechism continues:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends. (CCC 1028)
To be able to contemplate Christ for all eternity, the tribulation is worth it.
We notice that a great Saint and Doctor of the Church like Our Holy Mother Teresa was not immune from tribulation and anxiety. She was suffering terribly: there were “very troublesome days” and fears of being persecuted. She had lost her courage, and every remedy, every action that normally helped in past situations didn’t help at all. She was stuck in her fears and left with what she calls a guerra desabrida… a rather unsavory war—fruitless, vexing, and pointless. Even reading a letter from the priest who meant more to her than any other friar in the world couldn’t console her; his advice was to read St. Paul, but she admitted that it “comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough.”
Poor St. Teresa, she was really in emotional distress and in a spiritual bind. The next day she became even more upset because Father Gracián wasn’t there to encourage and console her in her anxiety. “I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation” and for her, the loneliness seemed to be the worst part.
St. John of the Cross says that it’s in times like these that we must “immediately draw near to God with trust” and that is exactly what St. Teresa did. She didn’t give up praying, seeking, and hoping, and she didn’t abandon God. Quite the opposite: she continued to draw near to God, even though He seemed distant or hiding. It seems that she may have had difficulty praying with peace, so she turned to spiritual reading instead.
Now, the Lord made himself known to St. Teresa at that moment through a mystical experience. However, that may not necessarily be the path the Lord chooses for each one of us. What St. John of the Cross explains is that if we draw near to God with trust, then we will receive “strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity gives the following advice to ordinary folks like you and I for how best to draw near to God when troubled or anxious in those moments that St. John and St. Teresa called “tribulation”:
You must build a little cell within your soul as I do. Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time; when you feel nervous or you’re unhappy, quickly seek refuge there and tell the Master all about it.
Ah, if you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you anymore; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go (Letter 123).
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
The Escape of St John of the Cross
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
18th c. French
Oil on canvas, 1768
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
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.
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. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#anxiety #doctorOfTheChurch #elizabethCatez #enlightenment #icsPublications #inquisition #instruction #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #loneliness #novena #persecution #psalms #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresa #stTeresaOfAvila #stTeresaOfJesus #strength #teresa #tribulation #troubles #trust #wayOfPerfection #worries
-
St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 5: Trust
Reading
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
Sayings of Light and Love, 66
Scripture
Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.Meditation
Oh, blessed tribulation, that sure sign that God is madly in love with you.
Tribulation is a word that is no longer part of our daily vocabulary. It appears in word puzzles and still makes its way into Hollywood film scripts, although it sounds more appropriate coming from the lips of the revered British actor Charles Laughton, whose King Herod once posed the legendary rhetorical question: “Why does the prophet visit me with worse than the tribulations of Job?”
Saint Teresa of Jesus understood what Saint John of the Cross meant when he was writing about tribulation because she had seen her fair share of it in her lifetime. Here’s just one example from Testimony 53 written in Seville, 8 November 1575:
On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days over the remembrance of my great sins and because of some fears of my being persecuted that had no foundation, except that false testimony was going to be raised [She had been falsely accused before the Inquisition of Seville]. And all the courage I usually have for suffering left me. Although I wanted to encourage myself, and I made acts and reflected that this suffering would be very beneficial to my soul, all these actions helped me little. For the fear didn’t go away, and what I felt was a vexing war. I chanced upon a letter in which my good Father [Jerome Gracián, Discalced Carmelite and Apostolic Visitor] refers to what St. Paul says, that God does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can suffer (1 Cor 10:13). That comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough. Rather, the next day I became sorely afflicted in seeing I was without him, since I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation. It seemed to me I was living in great loneliness, and this loneliness increased when I saw that there was no one now but him who might give me comfort and that he had to be absent most of the time, which was a great torment to me.
On the next night, while reading in a book a saying of St. Paul which began to console me, I was thinking of how present our Lord had previously been to me, for He had so truly seemed to be the living God. While I was thinking about this, He appeared in an intellectual vision, very deep within me, as though on the side where the heart is, and said: “Here I am, but I want you to see what little you can do without Me.”
I felt reassured right away, and all my fears were gone. While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: “Don’t be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union.”
This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone.
Now, we may not be falsely accused before the Inquisition, but in our daily lives, we see plenty of tribulation. And Saint Teresa makes it clear that if we are seeking to make love our ambition, to grow in that untiring love of which St. John of the Cross speaks, then we will be blessed with tribulation.
Blessed with tribulation?
“It is clear that since God wants to lead those whom He greatly loves by the path of tribulation—and the more He loves them the greater the tribulation—there is no reason to think that He despises contemplatives, for with His own mouth He praises them and considers them His friends.” (Way 18:1)
But what if I don’t want to be a contemplative?
For the faithful, this truly is not an option if we desire to be united with Christ in heaven, where we will be contemplatives for all eternity! St. Paul writes, “and we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Catechism reminds us:
Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision.”
Citing St. Cyprian, the Catechism continues:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends. (CCC 1028)
To be able to contemplate Christ for all eternity, the tribulation is worth it.
We notice that a great Saint and Doctor of the Church like Our Holy Mother Teresa was not immune from tribulation and anxiety. She was suffering terribly: there were “very troublesome days” and fears of being persecuted. She had lost her courage, and every remedy, every action that normally helped in past situations didn’t help at all. She was stuck in her fears and left with what she calls a guerra desabrida… a rather unsavory war—fruitless, vexing, and pointless. Even reading a letter from the priest who meant more to her than any other friar in the world couldn’t console her; his advice was to read St. Paul, but she admitted that it “comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough.”
Poor St. Teresa, she was really in emotional distress and in a spiritual bind. The next day she became even more upset because Father Gracián wasn’t there to encourage and console her in her anxiety. “I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation” and for her, the loneliness seemed to be the worst part.
St. John of the Cross says that it’s in times like these that we must “immediately draw near to God with trust” and that is exactly what St. Teresa did. She didn’t give up praying, seeking, and hoping, and she didn’t abandon God. Quite the opposite: she continued to draw near to God, even though He seemed distant or hiding. It seems that she may have had difficulty praying with peace, so she turned to spiritual reading instead.
Now, the Lord made himself known to St. Teresa at that moment through a mystical experience. However, that may not necessarily be the path the Lord chooses for each one of us. What St. John of the Cross explains is that if we draw near to God with trust, then we will receive “strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity gives the following advice to ordinary folks like you and I for how best to draw near to God when troubled or anxious in those moments that St. John and St. Teresa called “tribulation”:
You must build a little cell within your soul as I do. Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time; when you feel nervous or you’re unhappy, quickly seek refuge there and tell the Master all about it.
Ah, if you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you anymore; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go (Letter 123).
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
The Escape of St John of the Cross
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
18th c. French
Oil on canvas, 1768
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
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.
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. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#anxiety #doctorOfTheChurch #elizabethCatez #enlightenment #icsPublications #inquisition #instruction #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #loneliness #novena #persecution #psalms #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresa #stTeresaOfAvila #stTeresaOfJesus #strength #teresa #tribulation #troubles #trust #wayOfPerfection #worries
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St. John of the Cross Novena, Day 5: Trust
Reading
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
Sayings of Light and Love, 66
Scripture
Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.Meditation
Oh, blessed tribulation, that sure sign that God is madly in love with you.
Tribulation is a word that is no longer part of our daily vocabulary. It appears in word puzzles and still makes its way into Hollywood film scripts, although it sounds more appropriate coming from the lips of the revered British actor Charles Laughton, whose King Herod once posed the legendary rhetorical question: “Why does the prophet visit me with worse than the tribulations of Job?”
Saint Teresa of Jesus understood what Saint John of the Cross meant when he was writing about tribulation because she had seen her fair share of it in her lifetime. Here’s just one example from Testimony 53 written in Seville, 8 November 1575:
On the octave day of All Saints I spent two or three very troublesome days over the remembrance of my great sins and because of some fears of my being persecuted that had no foundation, except that false testimony was going to be raised [She had been falsely accused before the Inquisition of Seville]. And all the courage I usually have for suffering left me. Although I wanted to encourage myself, and I made acts and reflected that this suffering would be very beneficial to my soul, all these actions helped me little. For the fear didn’t go away, and what I felt was a vexing war. I chanced upon a letter in which my good Father [Jerome Gracián, Discalced Carmelite and Apostolic Visitor] refers to what St. Paul says, that God does not permit us to be tempted beyond what we can suffer (1 Cor 10:13). That comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough. Rather, the next day I became sorely afflicted in seeing I was without him, since I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation. It seemed to me I was living in great loneliness, and this loneliness increased when I saw that there was no one now but him who might give me comfort and that he had to be absent most of the time, which was a great torment to me.
On the next night, while reading in a book a saying of St. Paul which began to console me, I was thinking of how present our Lord had previously been to me, for He had so truly seemed to be the living God. While I was thinking about this, He appeared in an intellectual vision, very deep within me, as though on the side where the heart is, and said: “Here I am, but I want you to see what little you can do without Me.”
I felt reassured right away, and all my fears were gone. While I was at Matins that same night, the Lord, through an intellectual vision so intense it almost seemed to be an imaginative one, placed Himself in my arms as in the painting of the fifth agony. This vision caused me great fear. For it was so clear, and He was so close to me that I wondered if it was an illusion. He told me: “Don’t be surprised by this, for My Father is with your soul in an incomparably greater union.”
This vision has so remained up till now. What I said of our Lord lasted more than a month. Now it is gone.
Now, we may not be falsely accused before the Inquisition, but in our daily lives, we see plenty of tribulation. And Saint Teresa makes it clear that if we are seeking to make love our ambition, to grow in that untiring love of which St. John of the Cross speaks, then we will be blessed with tribulation.
Blessed with tribulation?
“It is clear that since God wants to lead those whom He greatly loves by the path of tribulation—and the more He loves them the greater the tribulation—there is no reason to think that He despises contemplatives, for with His own mouth He praises them and considers them His friends.” (Way 18:1)
But what if I don’t want to be a contemplative?
For the faithful, this truly is not an option if we desire to be united with Christ in heaven, where we will be contemplatives for all eternity! St. Paul writes, “and we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).
The Catechism reminds us:
Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up his mystery to man’s immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory “the beatific vision.”
Citing St. Cyprian, the Catechism continues:
How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God’s friends. (CCC 1028)
To be able to contemplate Christ for all eternity, the tribulation is worth it.
We notice that a great Saint and Doctor of the Church like Our Holy Mother Teresa was not immune from tribulation and anxiety. She was suffering terribly: there were “very troublesome days” and fears of being persecuted. She had lost her courage, and every remedy, every action that normally helped in past situations didn’t help at all. She was stuck in her fears and left with what she calls a guerra desabrida… a rather unsavory war—fruitless, vexing, and pointless. Even reading a letter from the priest who meant more to her than any other friar in the world couldn’t console her; his advice was to read St. Paul, but she admitted that it “comforted me a lot, but it wasn’t enough.”
Poor St. Teresa, she was really in emotional distress and in a spiritual bind. The next day she became even more upset because Father Gracián wasn’t there to encourage and console her in her anxiety. “I had no one to whom I could have recourse in this tribulation” and for her, the loneliness seemed to be the worst part.
St. John of the Cross says that it’s in times like these that we must “immediately draw near to God with trust” and that is exactly what St. Teresa did. She didn’t give up praying, seeking, and hoping, and she didn’t abandon God. Quite the opposite: she continued to draw near to God, even though He seemed distant or hiding. It seems that she may have had difficulty praying with peace, so she turned to spiritual reading instead.
Now, the Lord made himself known to St. Teresa at that moment through a mystical experience. However, that may not necessarily be the path the Lord chooses for each one of us. What St. John of the Cross explains is that if we draw near to God with trust, then we will receive “strength, enlightenment, and instruction.”
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity gives the following advice to ordinary folks like you and I for how best to draw near to God when troubled or anxious in those moments that St. John and St. Teresa called “tribulation”:
You must build a little cell within your soul as I do. Remember that God is there and enter it from time to time; when you feel nervous or you’re unhappy, quickly seek refuge there and tell the Master all about it.
Ah, if you got to know Him a little, prayer wouldn’t bore you anymore; to me it seems to be rest, relaxation. We come quite simply to the One we love, stay close to Him like a little child in the arms of its mother, and we let our heart go (Letter 123).
Prayer
O St. John of the Cross
You were endowed by our Lord with the spirit of self-denial
and a love of the cross.
Obtain for us the grace to follow your example
that we may come to the eternal vision of the glory of God.O Saint of Christ’s redeeming cross
the road of life is dark and long.
Teach us always to be resigned to God’s holy will
in all the circumstances of our lives
and grant us the special favor
which we now ask of you.Mention your request
Above all, obtain for us the grace of final perseverance,
a holy and happy death and everlasting life with you
and all the saints in heaven.
Amen.Let’s continue in prayer
Day 1 — Self-trust
The Escape of St John of the Cross
Day 2 — Self-giving
Day 3 — Cleansing
Day 4 — Walking in love
Day 5 — Trust
Day 6 — Prayer
Day 7 — Humility
Day 8 — Eternal Silence
Day 9 — Silent love
18th c. French
Oil on canvas, 1768
Carmel of Pontoise
© Ministère de la Culture (France), Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, Diffusion RMN-GP. Used by permission.The novena prayer was composed from approved sources by Professor Michael Ogunu, a member of the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order in Nigeria.
John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, S 2003, The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel, Nash, A (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
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.
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. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.
#anxiety #doctorOfTheChurch #elizabethCatez #enlightenment #icsPublications #inquisition #instruction #johnOfTheCross #letter #letters #loneliness #novena #persecution #psalms #sabeth #sanJuanDeLaCruz #stElizabethOfTheTrinity #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresa #stTeresaOfAvila #stTeresaOfJesus #strength #teresa #tribulation #troubles #trust #wayOfPerfection #worries