Teresa of Avila

"Well, my soul, now was tired; and, in spite of its desire, my wretched habits would not allow it rest. It happened to me that one day entering the oratory I saw a statue they had borrowed for a certain feast to be celebrated in the house. It represented the much wounded Christ and was very devotional so that beholding it I was utterly distressed in seeing Him that way, for it well represented what He suffered for us. I felt so keenly aware of how poorly I thanked Him for those wounds that, it seems to me, my heart broke. Beseeching Him to strengthen me once and for all that I might not offend Him, I threw myself down before Him with the greatest outpouring of tears."

Counsels of St. Teresa

about prayer.
"It is impossible to be speaking to God while we are reciting the Our Father, and at the same time thinking of the world."

"If we abandon prayer for a day or two on account of some occupation or disposition, God understands. Let the intentions be firm; my God is not at all touchy; He doesn't bother about trifling things."

"Vocal prayer should always be said in either a singular solitude or the unified solitude of a collective group; not in the presence of an assembly not unified in preparation for prayer."

"God speaks well to the heart when we beseech Him from the heart. It is even an obligation that we strive to pray with attention. Center the mind upon the one to whom the words are addressed."

about love...
"God would never want to do anything less than give if He could find receivers."

"The greatest evil of the world is that God, our Creator, suffers so many evil things from His creatures within His very self, and that we sometimes resent a word said in our absence and perhaps with no evil intention."

"The soul truly in love with God looks only for the honor and glory of God in everything. It looks only at pleasing and serving the Lord."

"God takes what we give Him; but He doesn't give Himself completely until we give ourselves completely."
regarding self-love: "It is not enough to be detached from everything, we must be detached from ourselves, that is, from all self-love. There is no worse thief than ourselves."

about virtue...
"One always gains much through perseverance, especially perseverance in prayer."

"He was so rooted in virtue that it doesn't seem to me I ever saw him angry, which amazed me very much and made me praise our Lord, for when one is rooted in virtue, the occasions of sin are of little consequence."

"When dealing with persons who are in need of spiritual direction, especially in serious moral situations, compassion and love should always be exercised, but a certain firmness and application of discipline becomes absolutely necessary when working with either irrational, temperamental, immature or sick persons, also rational and well persons. In other words, there are definite situations where a firm hand of control needs to be applied also in the exercise of this virtue." (Compassion)

"Fortitude is founded on solid ground, as is the case with those who are tried in suffering, for these latter know about the storms of the world and what little reason there is to fear them or desire the world's consolations."

about humility...
"Humility is like the bee making honey in the beehive always at work. Without it everything goes wrong."

"For what always makes humility grow is to have a 'holy daring'", {that is, to place all our trust in God}

"There's no queen like humility to make the King surrender. The King does not give Himself but to those who give themselves entirely to Him."

"It calls for great humility to be silent at seeing oneself condemned without fault."

about the Bible...
"For one word of God's will contain a thousand mysteries, and thus our understanding is only elementary. When His Majesty desires to give us understanding of the words, without work or worry on our part, we shall surely find it."

"God's love and His suffering can not be captured in Holy Scripture."

"Not one iota of Holy Scripture will fall short."

about the Body and Blood of Christ...
"In the Blessed Sacrament we have Him just as truly present as He was then. In Communion, the event is happening now, just as He walked on earth, and it is entirely true."

"A spiritual communion, that is one made without having received the Body or Blood of Christ is highly beneficial, through it you can recollect yourselves in the same way after Mass, for the love of this Lord is deeply impressed on the soul."

"Certainly, I think that if we were to approach the most Blessed Sacrament with great faith and love, once would be enough to leave us rich. How much richer from approaching so many times as we do. The trouble is that we do it out of routine and it shows."

about the devil...
"Beware, for the devil, through very small things drills holes through which very large things enter."

"The devil has a good means of making us squander our thoughts on trifles. When he sees that one has no fear of him, he looks for other devices."

"The devil needs nothing more than to see a little door open before playing a thousand tricks."

"After self-love, he is the most deadly enemy who has no power but that which God permits him to have."

"He is extremely afraid of determined souls for he has experienced the great harm they can do. I know this well from experience."

about self-love...
"You already know my God that if I have some good, it is a gift from no one else's hand but yours."

"A person's greatest good is within and won by giving up everything for the love of God."

"People living in their own homes at times cannot know their own faults, even though they want to because they want to please the Lord. For, in the end, what they want to do is their own will."

Prayer to St. Teresa

O Saint Teresa, seraphic Virgin, beloved spouse of thy Crucified Lord, thou who on earth didst burn with a love so intense toward thy God and my God, and now dost glow with a brighter and purer flame in Paradise: obtain for me also, I beseech thee, a spark of that same holy fire which shall cause me to forget the world, all things created, and even myself, for thou didst ever avidly desire to see Him loved by all men. Grant that my every thought and desire and affection may be continually directed to doing the will of God, the supreme Good, whether I am in joy or in pain, for He is worthy to be loved and obeyed forever. Obtain for me this grace, thou who art so powerful with God, may I be all on fire, like thee, with the holy love of God. Amen.

(St. Alphonsus M. de'Liguori) An indulgence of 300 days. A plenary indulgence on the usual conditions, if this prayer is said devoutly every day for a month.

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LITANY OF SAINT TERESA OF AVILA

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, who died to love,

and who 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,

Graciously 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 for Thee, and that we may secure the salvation of our own soul. This we beg through the merits of our Saviour and the intercession of Thy glorious virgin Teresa. Amen.