Prayer as a Protection and the Love of God

 

"And Lead Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From Evil"

Humble Spirit of Prayer

However sublime your contemplation may be, make it a point to begin and end your prayer with the realization of your nothingness. Continue always to walk in fear. If your prayer is from God, you will very often, in spite of yourself, reflect upon your own unworthiness, and you will have no need of this counsel. Such prayer engenders humility and always gives us greater light to perceive our nothingness. I shall not insist further, as you can consult many books on this matter. I have spoken about it because I have personally encountered these temptations, and have often suffered great anguish from them. I merely add that nothing that one might say is sufficient to insure us complete security.

Need of Constant Protection Against Wiles of Satan

O Eternal Father, since things are so, what can we do but have recourse to Thee, and beg Thee not to permit our enemies to lead us into temptations? If only they would attack us openly! Then we could more easily free ourselves with Thy help. But, who, O my God, will unmask their secret schemes? We have constant need of Thy protection. Speak, O Lord, some word that will enlighten and assure us. Thou knowest full well that those who travel the way of prayer are not numerous. And there will be even fewer, if, as one attempts to advance, one is beset with so many fears.

Sinners Under the Dominion of Satan

It is indeed a curious fact that the world seems to think that Satan never tempts those who fail to follow the way of prayer. Hence, it is more astounding to see one single soul, though striving for perfection, fall into some illusion, than it is to view a hundred thousand other persons, living publicly in sin and deceived by Satan. It requires little effort to determine whether these latter are in a good or bad state, for one can clearly see at a thousand leagues away, that they are under the domination of Satan.

Let Us Always Be Mindful of Christ's Love

Let Us Always Be Mindful of Christ's Love

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.

  

Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

  

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Go To Joseph! by Saint Teresa of Avila

 

Go To Joseph! by Saint Teresa of Avila

Finding myself so crippled and so young too, and earthly doctors having failed to cure me, I looked to heavenly physicians for help...

I took for my advocate and comforter the glorious Saint Joseph, and commended myself fervently to him; and I clearly saw that it was he who both cured me of my sickness and delivered me from great dangers that threatened my good name and the loss of my soul. His aid has brought me more good than I ever desired to receive from him. I do not remember at any time having asked him for anything which he did not grant. I am quite amazed at the great favors Our Lord has given me, and the many dangers, both of soul and body, from which He has delivered me through the intercession of this blessed saint. Our Lord seems to have given to other saints the power to help us in only one kind of necessity, but I know from experience that this glorious Saint Joseph helps us in all kinds of needs. It appears then that God wishes us to understand that as He was obedient to Joseph when He was on earth (for Saint Joseph was called His father and he could command Him) so now in Heaven God grants whatever Joseph asks.

Others, on my advice, have turned to Saint Joseph and they have had the same experience; and now there are many people who honor him and keep discovering the truth of what I have told them.

I strove to celebrate his feast day [March 19] with all possible solemnity, but I must admit that there was more vanity than true devotion mixed in with the celebration, for I always wanted everything to be done impressively and properly, even though my intentions were good. But it was always a fault of mine that whenever Our Lord gave me the graces to do something good, I added many faults and imperfections with it; whereas when it was a question of doing anything vain, worthless, or bad, I spent much time and effort with it. May Our Lord pardon me!

I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to this glorious saint, because long experience has shown me what wonderful blessings he obtains for us from God. Of all those I have known with a true devotion to Saint Joseph, I have never known any who did not advance in virtue, for he assists in a very special way those souls who place themselves under his protection.

For many years now I have always asked favors from him and they were always granted. But if sometimes my petitions had something wrong about them, dear Saint Joseph granted something much better for my own good. Were I a person who had authority to write, I should gladly relate in detail all the favors this dear patron obtained both for me and others; but under obedience I must tell some things briefly, and at length those incidents suggested by my superiors. I only request, for the love of God, that those of you who doubt what I say will prove it for yourselves. And you will see, through experience, how great a blessing it is to commend yourselves to this glorious patriarch, and to be devoted to him. Those persons, especially, who are given to prayer should ever be devoted to him, for I do not know how anyone can think of the Queen of Angels, at the time when she suffered so much on account of the Child Jesus, and not give thanks to Saint Joseph for taking care of them the way he did.

Whoever wants a model to imitate on how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as a guide and he will not lose his way!

God grant that I have not committed any error in speaking as I have....for although I profess to be devoted to him, yet I feel I have always failed in imitating his virtues. But he acted like himself, and showed us his virtues when he enabled me to rise and walk, and to be no more a cripple, And I, by making so bad use of this favor, show what sort of person I am.  The Indulgence is a partial one.

by Saint Teresa of Avila

From her Autobiography, Chapter VI

Image taken from Wikimedia Commons

The Litany of Saint Teresa of Avila

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,  pray for us. 

Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us. 

R./ pray for us

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 didst die 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, 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 Savior and the intercession of Thy glorious virgin Teresa. R. Amen.

Prayer to Redeem Lost Time

Prayer to Redeem Lost Time

O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.

Saint Teresa of Avila
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons

If Christ Dwells in Man

If Christ Dwells in Man

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that is we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For is at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort. 

by Saint Teresa of Avila
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons

St. Teresa's Nine Grades of Prayer

St. Teresa's Nine Grades of Prayer

Vocal Prayer: being attentive to the words one is saying and/or reading with focus on God, whom one is addressing.

Discursive Meditation: application of one's mind to spiritual truth; in order to penetrate it's meaning and carry it into practice.

Affective Mental Prayer: the operation of the will predominates over the intellect. A simplified meditation where love predominates.  Prayer becomes "the language of love."

Acquired Recollection: or the prayer of simplicity: a simple love or gaze on some Divine Object, whether it be the Crucifix, the Eucharist or the loving awareness of some Christian truth or mystery.  

Infused Recollection: the first degree of infused, mystical contemplation, a cooperation with God the Holy Spirit.  The other methods of prayer are abandoned to be present, an experience of God.

Prayer of Quiet: Captivated by divine love; the awareness of God's presence, the soul is filled with sweetness and joy. sometimes all the faculties are captivated (ecstasy).

Prayer of Simple Union: both the intellect and the will are captivated and occupied with God.

Prayer of Ecstatic Union: also  the "mystical espousal" or "conforming union." The Soul is centered on God alone.

Prayer of Transforming Union: also called the "mystical marriage" a prelude to the beatific life of glory and the most intimate union of the soul with God.  Transformation of the soul into it's Beloved...

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St. Teresa's Bookmark

St. Teresa's Bookmark

Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing;
God only is changeless.
Patience gains all things.
Who has God wants nothing.
God alone suffices.

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St. Teresa of Avila Quotes

St. Teresa of Avila Quotes

It is love alone that gives worth to all things.

Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value.

For if the will has nothing to employ it and love has no present object with which to busy itself, the soul finds itself without either support or occupation, its solitude and aridity cause it great distress and its thoughts involve it in the severest conflict.

Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.

You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.

Keep this in mind, for it is very important advice, so do not neglect it until you find you have such a fixed determination not to offend the Lord that you would rather lose a thousand lives and be persecuted by the whole world, than commit one mortal sin, and until you are most careful not to commit venial sins.'

You ought to make every effort to free yourselves even from venial sin, and to do what is most perfect. 

There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.

Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

God save us from gloomy saints!

'One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer.' 

We need no wings to go in search of Him, but have only to look upon Him present within us.

The devil frequently fills our thoughts with great schemes, so that instead of putting our hands to what work we can do to serve our Lord, we may rest satisfied with wishing to perform impossibilities.

It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves.

I used to press this reason against myself: The trials and sufferings of living as a nun cannot be greater than those of purgatory, and I have well deserved to be in hell. It is not much to spend the rest of my life as if I were in purgatory, and then go straight to Heaven -- which was what I desired. I was more influenced by servile fear, I think, than by love, to enter religion.

Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything

Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end. 

God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres..

Untilled ground, however rich, will bring forth thistles and thorns; so also the mind of man.

'Anyone who has the habit of speaking before God's majesty as if he were speaking to a slave, careless about how he is speaking, and saying whatever comes into his head and whatever he's learned from saying prayers at other times, in my opinion is not praying. Please, God, may no Christian pray in this way.'

It is of great importance, when we begin to practise prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our own thoughts.

May today there be peace within.  May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.  May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.  May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.  May you be content knowing that you are a child of God.  Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, danse, praise and love.  It is there for each and everyone of you.

The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.

Be gentle to all, and stern with yourself.

This Beloved of ours is merciful and good. Besides, he so deeply longs for our love that he keeps calling us to come closer. This voice of his is so sweet that the poor soul falls apart in the face of her own inability to instantly do whatever he asks of her. And so you can see, hearing him hurts much more than not being able to hear him… For now, his voice reaches us through words spoken by good people, through listening to spiritual talks, and reading sacred literature. God calls to us in countless little ways all the time. Through illnesses and suffering and through sorrow he calls to us. Through a truth glimpsed fleetingly in a state of prayer he calls to us. No matter how halfhearted such insights may be, God rejoices whenever we learn what he is trying to teach us.

For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.

We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.

We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.

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Reflections of Saint Teresa on the Value of Holy Water

Reflections of Saint Teresa on the Value of Holy Water

"From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must have great virtue. For my own part, whenever I take it, my soul feels a particular and most notable consolation. In fact, it is quite usual for me to be conscious of a refreshment which I cannot possibly describe, resembling an inward joy which comforts my whole soul. This is not fancy, or something which has happened to me only once it has happened again and again and I have observed it most attentively. It is let us say, as if someone very hot and thirsty were to drink from a jug of cold water: he would feel the refreshment throughout his body. I often reflect on the great importance of everything ordained by the Church and it makes me very happy to find that those words of the Church are so powerful that they impart their power to the water and make it so very different from water which has not been blessed."

"One night, too, about this time, I thought the devils were stifling me; and when the nuns had sprinkled a great deal of holy water about I saw a huge crowd of them running away as quickly as though they were about to fling themselves down a steep place."

"I will only describe something that happened to me one night on All Souls. I was in an oratory: I had said one nocturn and was repeating some very devotional prayers which follow it -- they are extremely devotional: we have them in our office-book -- when actually the devil himself alighted on the book, to prevent me from finishing the prayer. I made the sign of the Cross and he went away. I then began again and he came back. I think I began that prayer three times and not until I had sprinkled some holy water on him could I finish it. At the same moment I saw several souls coming out of purgatory: their time there must have been nearly up and I thought that perhaps the devil was trying to impede their deliverance."

“By this holy Water and by Your Precious Blood, wash away all my sins, O Lord.”

From the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila , Chapter 31. 1562 A.D.
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
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