Novena to St. Teresa of Avila

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to the virtue of humility.

HUMILITY consists in the knowledge of ourselves, in a sincere contempt of ourselves, and in bearing, and even desiring, to be despised by others. These are the steps by which the soul attains to this sublime virtue. If S. Teresa had not been devoted to prayer, she would have been especially exposed to the danger of pride and vain-glory by the superiority of her intellectual powers. It was necessary for her to descend into her inmost self to discover her own nothingness, and it was by a wonderful grace from God that she was enabled to bring her mind into subjection, and to lose it in the Divine Immensity. She would never have learned that she was nothing without the aid of the sublime degree of prayer to which she was raised by God. She acknowledged herself, by the light therein received, to be weak, frivolous, and liable to commit great faults; she wondered that she was not treated as an outcast by all men, and looked upon herself as unworthy of a place in the house of God. If her prayer had not been of the highest order, her intellect would have betrayed her, it would have gained the ascendency over some passing desires of humility and humiliation; but finding herself absorbed in the fulness of God, in that Infinity in which all created perfection disappears, she conceived that profound contempt of herself which subdues every illusion of the intellect. When we wish thoroughly to know ourselves, we must begin by asking for grace to know God—we must enter upon the study of God, if I may venture thus to speak—which is what the Apostle recommended to the first Christians when he spoke to them continually of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Why is the world vain and presumptuous, but because it does not possess this knowledge, which the Apostle declares to be above all other? S. Teresa possessed it in an eminent degree; and she owed this knowledge to continued prayer, inspired and animated by the quickening breath of the Holy Spirit. This wonderful woman has written of the things of God with a power and unction of which she was probably alone unconscious, so great was her conviction of her own unworthiness and inability. She in some sort resembled those Prophets who, when they announced the mysteries of salvation, declared that they knew not how to speak, and that they were as nothing in the sight of God.

Oh, when shall I understand the nature of that prayer which was the foundation of S. Teresa's humility! when shall I devote myself to it, if not in such an eminent degree, at least in such a measure as may teach me to know and despise myself! I shall never be humble, O my God, till I give myself up to the practice of prayer! It is the only way in which I can learn to see Thy greatness and my misery, Thy benefits and my ingratitude, Thy love and my indifference. Give me, O Lord, one ray of that light which illuminated S. Teresa, one drop of that unction which overflowed her soul, one spark of that sacred fire which inflamed her heart. And do thou, holy lover of Jesus, look favourably upon me, and obtain for me the grace so to pray, that I may annihilate myself, and be lost in the abyss of all knowledge and in the furnace of pure love.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Who didst engrave on her soul such solid, sublime, and at the same time such profound humility, that she never swerved from it in the high state of sanctity to which Thou wast pleased to raise her, nor ever lost sight of her lowliness and nothingness, although favoured with the most wonderful graces, and raised to a state of the highest contemplation, in which her heroic actions and wonderful miracles drew upon her the applause of men; I entreat Thee, Divine Jesus, by this great humility of Thy spouse, to grant me such a true and solid humility, as will make me to know my faults; dispel the darkness of my soul, and preserve me from the subtle poison of vanity, and finally dispose my heart to receive the grace which I ask of Thee in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory of God. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to the virtue of penance.

S. TERESA did not lay the foundation of her perfection in penance, but in prayer; and the royal Prophet did the same: he prostrated himself at the feet of his God, and breathed forth his sighs before Him; then he put on sackcloth and watered his couch with his tears. It is prayer which discovers the malice of sin, and excites the sinner to avenge on his own person the injuries offered to God. Jesus Christ prays in the garden, and beholds Himself loaded with the sins of the whole human race, and then says, “ Rise, let us go; behold, he is at hand that will betray Me.” Our Divine Saviour goes from prayer to the prætorium and to Calvary. S. Teresa, following His example, strengthened herself by prayer against that domestic enemy her body, and brought it into subjection. We marvel at the austerities of this Saint, and in general of all the holy friends of God; and the reason is, that we do not know the inspirations which they received from God in prayer, nor are we able to conceive the fervour of soul which set them at such enmity against their senses. A man of prayer is a mortified man; if exterior crosses are wanting to him, he invents them for himself, being convinced that, as a sinner and a disciple of Jesus Christ, he ought to suffer. It is a proof that the penitential spirit of S. Teresa had its origin in prayer, that her reform is founded on prayer and on the continual daily practice of an austere and penitential life. It would have been impossible for her to persuade men and women to embrace a life so contrary to nature, if she had not begun by making them lead a life of prayer. In the warfare of the world, men do not expose themselves to the fatigues of a campaign unless urged to it by some powerful motive, such as glory, ambition, or patriotism. In the spiritual conflict, we do not declare war against our senses without being furnished with interior strength; and this strength can be obtained only by prayer. A man of prayer is never sensual, and a man without prayer is never penitent. Every body is not able to practise the austerities of S. Teresa; but whoever applies himself to prayer will find a thousand ways of mortifying himself. He begins by cutting off every kind of superfluity, and reduces himself to the use of mere necessaries, so as to make his life at least approach to a life of austerity; he deprives himself of all pleasures, not only of such as are dangerous, but even of such as are lawful; he endeavours, according to the advice of the devout author of the Imitation, always rather to possess little than much; he blesses God when occasions of suffering present themselves; he never lets a day pass without denying his senses some gratification; he secretly practises, according to his condition, his strength, and his measure of grace, some of the mortifications which devotion inculcates and authorises.

O penance, precious fruit of prayer, I esteem and love thee, all immortified though I be! I can say nothing in my defence when I behold the example of the Saints, and especially the example of S. Teresa. I am not astonished at the austerity of her penance, when I see how entirely she was given up to prayer. I behold her clothed with the whole armour of salvation, and I see that she perfectly apprehended those words of the Apostle, who associates this holy armour with the practice of prayer: “ Put you on,” says he, “ the armour of God, praying at all times in the spirit.” Lead me on, O Lord, to penance by prayer, and sanctify my prayer by penance, that my heart and mind may be Thy victims in prayer, and that my body may be also made a sacrifice to Thee by penance.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Who didst inspire her with a most rigorous spirit of penance, Who didst suggest to her means to people the world and the desert with illustrious penitents and holy anchorites, to fill with that same spirit the most timid souls, and enable a multitude of women to triumph over the natural weakness of their sex, and, as Thy spouses, to lead an angelic life like those tender flowers which bud and blossom in the midst of thorns; I beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by the austere penance of this Thy spouse, to give me grace to mortify my body and to bring it into subjection, and to lead a truly Christian life, embracing willingly the holy severity of penance, that so I may obtain the grace which I ask in this Novena, if it be to the greater glory of God. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to the virtue of patience.

S. TERESA was called to a work which required an invincible degree of patience. In addition to the interior sufferings by which she was tried by our Lord, He commanded her to restore the strict observance of the ancient rule in the Order of Carmel—an undertaking in many ways far more difficult than the foundation of a new congregation. The founders of such holy societies have indeed to endure a conflict with the world and its passions; but reformers are opposed also by custom, prejudice, and even by the reason and prudence of good men. Such persons often regard with no favourable eye an attempt to set aside the mitigations granted by authority, confirmed, perhaps, by the use of many centuries, and approved by a multitude of estimable persons. It is necessary on such occasions to be able to distinguish what is due to legitimate authority from the effects of an undue indulgence of human infirmity and self-love. The remedy for abuses must be sought in the midst of the relaxed society, and the formation of new colonies necessarily leads to the depopulation of the original institute. The reformer runs the risk of being accounted an innovator, and is exposed to the imputations of fickleness, ambition, and disobedience. Such an undertaking is far more delicate and difficult in the hands of a woman. Men are slow to believe that she can have been raised up by God for the accomplishment of a work which would have been hard even to the intellect and resolution of one of themselves. Whatever her reputation for sanctity and illumination, innumerable obstacles will rise up in her path, and her success—if she succeed at last—will be at the cost of incredible labour and suffering. Such was the position of Teresa. Her natural powers might have enabled her to govern an empire, but the Spirit of God alone could have enabled her to undertake and accomplish the reform of Carmel. That Divine Spirit endued her with light, strength, and perseverance, but it left her trials and crosses. This was the very test of her direction and her influence. The founders of Christianity succeeded in establishing it, because they were guided by the Holy Ghost; but they gave their hearts' blood for the full accomplishment of their mission. Teresa pursued her way with unchanging patience through her long course of trial, contradiction, and persecution. Whence did she derive that strength and constancy, but from the unremitting exercise of prayer? Prayer was the foundation of her work, the source of her illumination, the armoury and the treasury whence she derived her means and weapons of success. She rose from prayer to confront the difficulties in her path as the martyrs went forth from prayer to torture and death. No labour for her Divine Spouse was too great for this courageous woman to undergo. She roused the hearts of men to aid her, and quickened them with her own energy. Toilsome journeys, dissensions within, opposition without, the human prudence of friends and directors, earth and hell arrayed against her—all were alike impotent to dismay or discourage her. In the distraction of business around her, in the multitude of obstacles before her, she kept herself closely united to her Divine Saviour—the cross of Jesus was her shelter. It was in prayer alone that Teresa acquired her wonderful gift of patience. The reform of Carmel is the crowning work of prayer; whence I may conclude that, if I am feeble in my undertakings, impatient in the trials of life, full of distrust in the work of my salvation, it is because the unfailing support of prayer is wanting to me. A soul which is founded on prayer is like a rock continually beaten by the waves, which is unmoved by the utmost fury of the storm. O my God, shall I always continue thus negligent in prayer! Shall I never seek to establish my soul in peace by that mighty, that only means of acquiring constancy amid the troubles which surround me! O great Saint, may I at last become thy disciple in the life of prayer! I am not called to a work so sublime as thine; but the enemies of my salvation are terrible. Obtain for me the gift of prayer, that I may resist and overcome them.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Thou didst fill her with the spirit of power, and with an heroic courage to undertake immense labours for Thy glory; Thou didst give her invincible patience in all the trials which she had to endure; her life, her happiness, and her glory consisted in suffering for Thee, and the continual cry of that magnanimous and burning heart was “ to suffer or to die.” I beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by that invincible patience of this Thy glorious bride, to grant to me a patience so perfect, that it may be my consolation and glory amid the sufferings and labours of this miserable life; that it may secure to me happiness and eternity; that it may efficaciously lead me to live amid sufferings, and to be crucified with Thee; and, lastly, that it may merit for me the grace which I ask in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory of God. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to interior trials.

IT is in these interior trials that prayer is especially needed, although at such times it will be an extremely difficult and laborious task. Interior trials are—temptations, aridity, dereliction, the repugnance of the heart and mind to all spiritual exercises. With the best will to serve God, we seem then to be without will, because clouds darken the soul and storms overwhelm it. Under such circumstances prayer is at once the only resource and the greatest torture of the creature. Feeling its misery and its need, it casts itself on the bosom of its Creator, and that bosom seems to be closed against it; it is attracted towards God, and at the same time it seems to be repulsed by Him; it desires to love Him alone, and yet feels as if it were filled with opposition to His love; glimpses of heavenly light are succeeded by horrible darkness. No one ever experienced the severity of these trials in a greater degree than S. Teresa; and she had, moreover, to endure perplexing doubts, arising from the extraordinary nature of her vocation. Our Lord led her by an interior guidance, the reality of which men were slow to see and hard to believe. Her directors disturbed instead of consoling her, and, far from guiding her aright, would have led her astray. If that great soul had not been sustained by prayer, it would have sunk under the weight of its trials, and the marvellous work of its perfection would have come to naught. But what a glorious light of prayer arose in the darkness of that night! It is not given to me, my God, to penetrate that mystery. All I know is, that Teresa persevered in union with Thee, and in the intimate persuasion of her own nothingness; that prayer was the altar on which she continually offered her whole being to Thee; that, notwithstanding Thy seeming severity, she held fast to Thy cross; that, with all her docility to her directors, she persevered with unshaken constancy in the path marked out for her by Thee, and that this hard and rugged path led her on to the sublimest summit of perfection. The Church needed an example like this for a multitude of faithful souls whom God tries by interior sufferings. They learn from S. Teresa never to relinquish the path of prayer, in whatever darkness it may be shrouded, to deepen the knowledge of their nothingness by the consciousness of their weakness; to redouble their fervour when their heart seems like a dry and thirsty land; and to await with patience the visitation of the Lord. If all the Saints had, like S. Teresa, written the history of their lives, we should see them triumph over these dark and stormy seasons, by the constancy and fervour of their prayer. This was the refuge of the great Apostle himself in his terrible conflicts: “ I besought the Lord thrice,” he says, “ and He said to me, My grace is sufficient for thee.”

O holy prayer, support of weak souls, light of those who are seeking God in the dark, I devote myself to thee, I take thee for my companion, and will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt lead me, and whatsoever difficulties may beset my path. I will pray always, according to the counsel of the Apostle, and the example of S. Teresa. Holy Spirit, do Thou pray in me, ask Thou in me; may Thine ineffable groanings atone for my aridity, hardness, and coldness! Keep alive in me the love of prayer, and feed me with that celestial bread until the day when I shall be united to Thee eternally in heaven.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Who didst try her constancy and fidelity by many long years of acute interior sufferings, Who didst purify her love by veiling Thine Own, and didst unite her more closely to Thee by the withdrawal of Thy consolations and the infliction of the most painful trial of dereliction, and by the rough way of dryness and desolation didst raise her to the highest degree of prayer; Divine Jesus, her Guide and her Master, I beseech Thee, by this long martyrdom of Thy faithful spouse, to sustain my weakness in the trials and temptations of this life, to enkindle my confidence in the midst of interior pains and perplexities, to preserve my soul from weariness and tepidity, to fix my imagination, to enlighten my mind, to inflame my heart in the holy exercise of prayer, to be Thyself my Guide in the narrow and difficult way of salvation, and, lastly, to grant what I ask of Thee in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory of God. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to prayer itself.

THE science of prayer is not like other sciences, which require preliminary studies in some respects foreign to their subject. We can become learned in prayer only by prayer itself. We all know that prayer requires the full attention of the mind and all the affections of the heart; but we do not all know how to silence our imagination and to empty our heart of every affection which does not tend to God. We are all willing to receive consolations from Heaven; but hardly any of us can resolve to wait for the Lord, and to depend upon the operations of his grace. The Holy Spirit guided Teresa in the way of prayer, and she was docile to His teaching. She had an exceeding love of prayer, and a determined will never to depart from the Divine Presence, knowing that, without that holy Presence, not only habitual, but vivid and actual, it is impossible to attain to intimate union with God.

I understand not, O Lord, the prayer of S. Teresa, I know not the secrets which Thou didst unveil to her in that holy exercise of Thy love; it is not for me to presume to enter that sanctuary. I am too profane to be initiated into the sublime mysteries of the intercourse between Thee and Thy chaste spouse; but I see throughout the whole life of this holy lover of Jesus, that she ever rose from prayer more humble, more lowly in her own eyes, more fervent in love, more devoted to the good pleasure of God, more eager to suffer for His glory, stronger in her holy resolutions, more detached from her own will. I behold her prayer as a fruitful field in which she reaped continually the fruits of holy self-denial.

O prayer of S. Teresa, how dost thou exalt my soul, how dost thou detach me from earth, what glories dost thou disclose to me from the world to come, the kingdom of Jesus Christ! Well did that great soul comprehend the value of detachment from all that is not God; fully was she enlightened as to the vanity of all earthly things! Yes, Lord, Teresa accomplished literally those words of thine Apostle: “ Our conversation is in heaven.” She lived upon earth like the blessed dead of whom the same Apostle says that “ their life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God.” I aspire not to the sublimity of her prayer, but I have greater need than she to die to myself, to break at once and for ever with the world and my own passions; and, like Thy disciples, I say to Thee: “ Lord, teach me to pray.” And do thou, great Saint, so rich in merits gained by prayer, obtain for me the prayer of faith and love, that I may be so closely united to Jesus in all my actions as never to lose sight of the Beloved of thy heart.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, who didst bestow on her so sublime a gift of prayer as placed her among the Cherubim and Seraphim, and made her so enlightened a mistress of that science of the Saints as to be able to point out to all who walk in the ways of prayer, meditation, and contemplation, the paths which they should follow each in his several degree,—I beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by the sublimity of her prayer, to make me a faithful disciple of that seraphic mistress, and to enable me to make such progress in her school as to attain to an attentive, fervent, and solid prayer, a prayer which may enable me to fulfil Thy holy law, and which may obtain for me the grace which I ask in this Novena, if it be to the greater glory of God. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to the virtue of faith.

IF S. Teresa had not been a child of prayer, her faith would have been weak, and a weak faith borders closely upon that dead faith which leads to perdition. “ He that cometh to God,” says the Apostle, “ must believe;” but it is no less true, that to believe we must come to God. Faith led Teresa to prayer, and prayer perfected her faith. Her whole life is made up of faith and prayer. The lights afforded her were sublime because her prayer was unceasing. Oh, how many lessons may we learn from this! We are enslaved by our senses, they separate us from God, they crush us to the earth; prayer alone can free us, and bear our soul to heaven. Teresa seems to have been raised up in these latter times to console the Church for the rebellion of her children. She received special light upon the truths assailed by heretics, she read them in the very light of God, and spoke of them with an eloquence which was like the voice of God. Is it not wonderful that a simple nun should have written so fully upon such sublime subjects without a word escaping her which could be censured by the severest criticism? The most gifted men tremble when they take these subjects in hand, and continually fear lest they should make a false step on so difficult a road. Teresa was guided by prayer, and the Spirit of God guarded her from all danger. The sublime faith which was His gift extended not only to the mysteries of religion, it instructed her in all the secrets of the interior life. It taught her what God is to a soul full of good will, and what such a soul is to God; it unfolded to her all the consequences of her religious profession, all the degrees of perfection, all the various ways in which God is pleased to guide the soul, all the illusions which spring from self-love or from the malice of the devil. She learned all these lessons in prayer; prayer was the school of faith, and faith the reward of prayer. If we reflect upon our want of faith, we shall see that it arises from our coldness in prayer. If we will but give ourselves to prayer, faith will revive in our soul, faith will control our senses, faith will overcome our immortification; and our judgments of the world, and all that the world esteems, will be conformed to the judgment of Jesus, the Author of our faith. Our conversation will bear upon it the impress and the seal of faith; our vocal prayers, now often so cold, so hurried, and so fruitless, will be clothed with the intelligence of faith; holy Scripture will become to us the food of faith, and faith will be strengthened and preserved by the Sacraments of the Church.

O prayer of faith! O faith nourished by prayer! how gloriously do you shine forth in the life of S. Teresa! When, O my God, shall I enter on the way of prayer, that I may be filled with the light of faith! Alas, my faith has hitherto been dim because my prayer has been cold. I desire to believe, O my God, and I desire to speak to Thee. Thy prophet separates not these two things, “ I believed, and therefore will I speak;” and Teresa's life was filled with these alone. Give me, O Lord, the spirit of prayer, that I may believe, and give me faith, that I may pray.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Who gavest her so firm a faith in Thy mysteries that she believed them more confidently than if she had seen them with her bodily eyes, a faith so luminous that it lighted her to walk securely in the highest paths of perfection, a faith so vivid and so burning that it brought about the conversion of a multitude of souls; I beseech Thee, O Divine Jesus, by that marvellous faith by which Thou didst vouchsafe to enlighten Thy glorious spouse, to give me a living, enlightened, firm, and constant faith, which may subdue my heart and mind to the teaching of our holy mother the Church, a faith which may direct me in the spiritual life, and which may obtain for me the grace which I ask in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory of God. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to the virtue of hope.

THE two objects of Christian hope are salvation and the means of salvation. We are all obliged to hope for salvation and for the means necessary for its attainment; but it is prayer which secures us in the way of salvation, and affords us the means to attain it; and, of all kinds of prayer, mental prayer is the most effectual, because it is the exercise of the mind and heart, and because it unites the soul to God, the Author of salvation and of all the graces which lead to it. It is a dangerous presumption to hope to attain salvation without prayer; and it is an insult to the Divine goodness, and a distrust of the promises of our Lord, not to entertain a sure hope of salvation with prayer. S. Teresa's confidence was founded on prayer. By prayer she rose superior to all creatures, and to all the faint-hearted fears which hold back so many souls called by God to perfection. Her confidence rested not upon visions and revelations,—gifts which may be communicated even to the enemies of God, such as the false prophet Balaam and the high-priest Caiphas. Teresa's confidence rested upon a prayer which was humble, lowly, dependent on the Spirit of God, and animated with a single desire to serve Him. The spirits of evil might trouble her,—men might censure her,—events might seem to cross her designs,—still she remained unshaken. She went forth from prayer as the Apostles from the cenacle, prepared to act, to suffer, or to die for the glory of God. Some persons pray, all the time distrusting prayer, or rather distrusting God, Who has led them to pray. They are like those imperfect Christians who waver, according to the expression of S. James, and are, therefore, inconstant in all their ways; they know not how to listen to the Lord in prayer, and this it is which leaves them in trouble and uncertainty. Teresa excelled in this art of listening to God, of hearing Jesus Christ speaking within her after Communion; and this is one of the most precious lessons contained in her works. She knew that in prayer we must speak little and listen much; that the Spirit of God delights to teach us, and that His lessons go home to the heart by their divine power.

O Divine Spirit, speak Thou to my heart; strengthen it against the fears which disturb it: the fear of sorrow, the fear of humiliation, the fear of poverty, the fear of sickness, the fear of death. Prayer dispels all these fears, because it establishes the heart in God, the Sovereign Master of all events, Who turns them to the greater good of those who love Him.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, inspire me with the same hope and confidence which enabled her to undertake and carry through things which seemed impossible. In the power of Thy Divine Spirit she founded a multitude of houses, having no other aid or support but Thy good Providence; amid the hottest fires of persecution she looked confidently for success; and when the world and hell were leagued together to overthrow her work, she stood firm against the artifices of the devil and the oppositions of men, yielding neither to their unjust suspicions nor their vain alarms. Unmoved even by the human prudence of learned divines, Teresa pursued the way marked out for her by the Holy Spirit; and, unshaken by the tempests which swept across her path, her heroic heart clung unchangeably to Thy Divine promises. I beseech Thee, my loving Jesus, by this firm hope of Thy faithful spouse, to grant me a like hope of my salvation, and of the means necessary for its attainment,—a hope which may inspire me to seek always the greater glory of God without regard to the fear or favour of men. And I beseech Thee also to grant the petition which I make to Thee in this Novena, if it be to Thy greater glory. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to the love of God.

PRAYER is at once the school and the exercise of love. It is in meditation, as the Prophet says, that the fire is kindled. S. Teresa was a living victim to Divine love because her whole life was united to God in prayer. We think of her now in glory; and we imagine that when on earth she led a life beyond the possibility of our imitation. This is a great mistake. Teresa was a simple religious, like many others; but she was devoted to prayer in a measure far beyond that of ordinary souls, even in religion; and it was this which had raised her to such an exalted degree of love. Is it impossible for us to pray and to love? If God does not enkindle in our hearts so vehement a flame as burned in the heart of Teresa, do we place no obstacles in the way of the Divine operations, such as our voluntary distractions, our needless intercourse with the world, our repugnance to solitude? Have we learnt to listen to our Lord in prayer? do we lose courage after a few faint efforts to unite ourselves to Him? Are we ready to sacrifice to Him our vanity, our ambition, our self-love? Do we converse with God as children with their father? Are we simple, persevering, and hearty in our communications with our Lord? Teresa was not always prostrate before His Tabernacle or before the Crucifix in her cell; she was continually in action and overwhelmed with labours; but she lived and worked in the presence of God, and conversed with Him even while she held intercourse with creatures. When she received Divine illuminations, she increased the more in humility, and in the conviction of her own nothingness. When she experienced interior trials, she blessed God for His seeming severity, and her love was strengthened by these very privations. We admire and wonder at the multitude and singularity of the extraordinary graces which were lavished upon her; let us rather admire her gift of prayer, and learn that it was the way which led her to perfect love. Let us acknowledge the unspeakable goodness of the Lord, Who communicates Himself to the humble and lowly, that they may learn to pray and to love. When S. Paul was struck down on the way to Damascus, he began to pray, and Ananias found him praying. Who has ever loved more fervently than S. Paul, or written more burning words in praise of Divine charity? Love is the life of the soul, and prayer is the food of love. The whole difference between Teresa and the worldling farthest from the kingdom of God is, that Teresa nourished her soul with the food of love by the exercise of prayer, and that the affections of the worldling are swallowed up in death, because they are fixed upon earthly objects. He also loves; but his love is misplaced, because it is turned towards creatures; he also offers aspirations, but to the demon of ambition, to the demon of pleasure, to the demon of wealth. O fearful illusion of misplaced love! there is nothing needed but sincere and fervent prayer to restore order to that soul; but the worldling has no taste for the things of God; he knows not the prayer of the heart; he has no conception of the nature of Teresa's communings with Jesus.

O Lord, I am but too probably in this way of death; recall me to Thee by prayer, pierce my heart with the dart of Thy love: it is full time; and I say to Thee in all sincerity with David, “ My heart is ready, O Lord; my heart is ready.”

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Who didst so enkindle her with love that she became a seraph in human form, Who didst so wound her heart with the sharp arrow of Thy Divine charity as to consume it by that heavenly fire, and break the bonds which held her captive upon earth, bearing her soul on the wings of that most pure love before the throne of Thy Divine Majesty; I beseech Thee, Divine Jesus, by the love which consumed Thy blessed Spouse, to enkindle my heart with the same Divine fire, that it may be offered as an acceptable holocaust to Thee, that every moment of my life may be devoted to Thy love, and that my last breath may be a sigh of love to Thee. May that love hold up my hands, and with a holy violence obtain from Thy Divine goodness what I ask of Thee in this Novena, if it be for the greater glory of God, the honour of Thy spouse, and the good of my soul. Amen.

Meditation on S. Teresa's spirit of prayer in relation to her blessed death.

THE spirit of prayer accompanied Teresa to her last hour; for, as the Church sings in her Office, she died rather of a transport of love than of any bodily ailment. So close had been her union with Jesus during life, that, like the great Apostle, she could defy death to separate her from His love. This thought would suffice for my instruction and conversion; for it will be impossible to be united to God at the moment of death unless we have spent our life in the holy exercise of prayer. The faculties of the soul will not then turn towards their great Object, if they have been continually absorbed in objects of sense. The consolation of the dying depends upon the daily practice of prayer during life. Our Lord then communicates Himself most abundantly and most lovingly to the heart which has been open to His inspirations during a long series of years. If we would die like Teresa, we must pray like her.

Spirit of prayer! Source of light, of peace, and of consolation! when the world disappears before the opening vision of eternity, when the senses fail, and the soul breaks its bonds,—Thou art its only resource, its only support, its strength and its hope; these precious privileges belong only to the deathbed of those who during life have subdued their senses to Thy sweet yoke, who have devoted all the faculties of their soul to thee, and have acquired the blessed habit of unceasing prayer. May prayer, then, be my nourishment and my delight; may it unite me, as it united Teresa, so closely to God, that neither death nor hell may be able to separate me from Him.

Prayer.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, whose life was an unbroken chain of extraordinary graces and favours, a continual exercise of Thy holy presence, an intimate union with Thine infinite greatness, a perfect sacrifice of love, and whose death was the crowning work of Thy grace, the consummation of that ineffable union, the triumph of charity,—I beseech Thee, Divine Jesus, by that death so precious in Thy sight, to enable me to walk all the days of my life in Thy holy presence; to keep me continually united to Thee, my only and Sovereign Good; to cast upon my cold heart some sparks of that sacred fire which consumed the heart of S. Teresa, that at the awful moment when time shall be no more, and eternity shall begin, I may have a sweet and lively hope to enjoy Thy Divine presence, to be inebriated with those rivers of joy of which Thou art the Source, and to burn throughout eternity with that heavenly fire of which that which consumed Teresa on earth was but the symbol, the foretaste, and the pledge.

Most sweet Jesus, Divine Spouse of S. Teresa, Thou didst give to her, as to Thy beloved disciple, Mary for a Mother, and didst inspire her from her very infancy with so lively and tender a devotion to that blessed Mother as attached her throughout life devotedly to her service, and inspired her with a fervent zeal for her honour. At her altars she conceived the plan of her reform; under her auspices she carried it out; under her mighty protection she placed her finished work; she transmitted that same devotion to Mary to her children, and by its power she still keeps alive amongst them the love of their holy state. I beseech Thee, therefore, Divine Jesus, by that tender and filial devotion of Thy Spouse to Thy most holy Mother, to give me the same childlike love, that I may consecrate myself to her service; that I may be zealous for her honour, and fervent in promoting it; that I may labour to multiply the number of her servants and her children, that so I may have her for my prevailing advocate with Thee.

Blessed Virgin, I prostrate myself before thee, and humbly beseech thee to present my prayers to thy Divine Son. I am unworthy to be heard. All my hope to obtain the grace which I ask at the close of this Novena rests upon thy all-prevailing intercession.