Wednesday, July 9, 2014

St. Teresa of Avila and Holy Folly

How I wish ours [our reason] would make us dissatisfied with this habit of always serving God at a snail's pace! As long as we do that we shall never get to the end of the road. And as we seem to be walking along and getting fatigued all the time—for, believe me, it is an exhausting road—we shall be very lucky if we escape getting lost.... Would it not be better to get the journey over and done with? ...

When we proceed with all this caution, we find stumbling blocks everywhere; for we are afraid of everything, and so dare not go farther.... For the love of the Lord, let us make a real effort: let us leave our reason and our fears in His hands and let us forget the weakness of our nature which is apt to cause us so much worry.... Our task is only to journey with good speed so that we may see the Lord.

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Source: St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, trans. by Allison Peers (Sheed & Ward), III Mansions, ii; Peers, vol. II, 226.

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