“I am yours, for you I was born; what will you do with me?”
Proposal for the preparation of the celebrations for the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus (2015)
PREFACE
It brings me great joy to accompany this document with a few lines, intended for the preparation of the celebration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus, sent to all male and female communities of our order. I am convinced that the choice to embark on the formation path presented here is due to the beneficial and enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, who inspired this effort first in my predecessor, Father Luis Aróstegui, from whom this initial intuition comes, and subsequently in the brothers gathered at the 90th General Chapter, who accepted the text that you now have at your disposal.
The rich content of this document offers – in a commendably concise form – two forms of assistance for understanding our holy mother. On one hand, it places her experiences in a historical context, and on the other, it presents a selection of thematic areas, particularly relevant and important for our time. The theoretical perspective ultimately materializes in a series of proposals for actions that can be realized on various levels. However, the most important motivation can be expressed in a single simple imperative: let us read Saint Teresa attentively again! Let us learn to feed ourselves daily with her words and to be in her company!
It must be clear that when we speak of preparing for the celebration of the anniversary of Saint Teresa’s birth, we do not think directly of organizing liturgical celebrations, cultural events, or pastoral initiatives. We cannot flatten the whole program of life of the entire order, over a full six years, to preparations and organization of this type. The preparation that the General Chapter had in mind is primarily personal and communal and consists in a renewed contact between us and our holy mother. This can only happen in the silence of our own cell (cf. Mt 6:6) and in the mutual sharing of the word in an atmosphere of trust and simplicity, during community meetings of brothers and sisters. The depth of this contact, its duration, and its intensity will determine the possibility of authentic renewal that the order needs: to revive its own charismatic identity, in a way that bears the signs of our time and embraces its difficulties. Without a return to the founding experience of our vocation, we cannot have certain criteria on which to base the decisions that will determine our future. As often happens, the greatest and most important decisions depend on a series of small and hidden daily choices.
It is evident that reading the writings of Saint Teresa will be all the richer, the more it is accompanied by knowledge and use of exegetical and interpretative methods. However, the foundation remains direct listening to the words of our mother and teacher. Let us commit to dedicate some time every day, even if just a very short time, to reading one page of Saint Teresa, and much will be accomplished. Only daily contact with Teresa can allow us to experience her charism anew. From experience, I know that this daily fidelity is not possible on the one hand without a long-term “decisive decision,” which places this personal and hidden commitment at the forefront of our diary, and on the other hand, without the ability to approach the text as we are, with our unresolved issues and recurring questions, freed from pre-prepared solutions.
Allow me one example. As soon as we open the volume of the collected writings of Saint Teresa, we encounter a peculiar introduction to the Book of Life, in which she warns the reader not to forget the dark recesses of their own person, of which she is not allowed to speak, since she must write only about her way of prayer and the graces she has received. This statement, which deviates from the usual hagiographical pattern, leads us to an authentic Christian life, lived as a constant conversion. If Teresa writes this, it is precisely so that no one feels excluded from the possibility of following the same path and receiving the same graces that were given to her. However, if between us and Teresa of Jesus, between our truth and her truth, there rise walls of stereotypes that – more than historical truths about Teresa – correspond to certain hagiographical patterns or certain spiritual theologies, listening to her words cannot become a source of salvific renewal for us, and we expose ourselves to the risk of it becoming mere pious exercise, from which, at best, moralizing or spiritualizing reflections may arise.
Years that separate us from the jubilee in 2015 are opening before us: will we be faithful to the commitment that the Holy Spirit has presented to our religious family? Experience will answer that. Meanwhile, let us pray to the Lord that hope, arising from the calling given to us, may ignite within us during this journey.
Father Saverio Cannistrà, OCD, General Superior
INTRODUCTION
1. The poem, whose first line has given the title to this document, is an expression of life, understood as a gift from God’s love to humanity, and as simultaneously offered to God; such is the life of Saint Teresa of Jesus, our mother. Her spiritual experience allowed her to live the revealed truths of faith as truths fundamentally shaping her person (cf. DV 8): 1 in Christ, the human being, created in God’s image, is redeemed; He calls and expects every person; in communion with Him we are led to salvation; in the same way as His life, the life of the human being is realized in obedience to the Father’s plan. However, our mother Teresa of Jesus’s spiritual experience does not only concern an event that relates only to herself; it is also at the root of our vocation: “The beginning of our family in Carmel and the deeper meaning of our vocation are closely linked to the spiritual life and charism of Saint Teresa, primarily with the mystical graces under the influence of which she decided on the renewal of Carmel. That is to be directed towards prayer and contemplation of God’s realities, relying on the gospel and the primacy of the rule” (KN 5).
2. At the same time, we know that “the way of life of both saints [Saint Teresa and Saint John] shines brightly and finds expression and form in their writings, so that the charisms they embody and the form of spiritual life they present, even in matters concerning closer union and experience with God, cannot be regarded as (theirs) personally; in reality, they belong to the heritage and fullness of the vocation of our order” (KN 13). Therefore, within the movement returning to the sources, which is taking place in the way of thinking and experiencing Christian faith and which our order has also attempted to develop in the documents of the recent chapters, we want, even at this 90th General Chapter (2009), to return to the sources of our Teresian charism, through the proposal of established personal and communal readings of the writings of Saint Teresa, which should help us renew the awareness of our identity and our mission in today’s church.
3. We invite to this reading, furthermore, in the framework of preparations for the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus (2015), so that this immediate contact with the saint's writings and their sapiential reading may allow us to enter into her human and spiritual adventure, as she experienced and offered it to others. We want to revive her spirit within us, letting ourselves be permeated by the wisdom that flows from her writings, and that we approach them in a listening attitude, as disciples and sons and daughters, so as to give a new impulse to our lives in accordance with the Teresian charism, for the service of the church and the world. Let us seek her words as a source of hope in our human, Christian, and Carmelite experiences.
4. To our invitation, attentive to the call to examine the signs of the times as signs of God (cf. EN 37), occurs within the current perception of the vocation to a profound spiritual life and to a renewed interest in mysticism, which requires a dynamic and deep spirituality, arising from the gospel and from mystical dimensions, capable of confronting the distrust and uncertainties of the current circumstances in which we live. “Is not one of the ‘signs of the times’ the fact that in today’s world we find, alongside powerful processes of secularization, a widespread desire for spiritual life, which largely manifests itself precisely in a new need for prayer?” (NMI 33a) This “widespread need for spirituality” of modern times appears to be connected with the great tradition of Christian mysticism and specifically with the testimony of the mystics of Carmel: “From all the testimonies full of light, we cannot fail to recall the teachings of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Ávila” (NMI 33b).
Saint Teresa of Jesus in a painting from the early 20th century in the pilgrimage church in Kostelní Vydří. The painter Rupert Lorenz portrayed her with the usual attributes:
a book and a bird’s quill, which point to her significant writings, and a burning heart pierced by an arrow, recalling the mystical experience she shares in her Book of Life (29,13).
5. This document, as a product of reflections by the Discalced Carmelites gathered at the 90th General Chapter, is primarily addressed to the brothers, but it also aims to be an invitation to the Discalced Carmelites, to the members of the Secular Order (OCDS), and it is open to the entire Teresian family. It thus seeks to contribute to strengthening the bond of unity among brothers and sisters, in order to better realize and express the richness of Saint Teresa's charism in the church. We know that the family founded by this saint is an open family, which has continuously enriched itself over the centuries with new members, new associations, and new institutes. We cannot forget the vocation of young people, who are a source of Carmelite renewal for the order, just as children are a renewal of families. In a special way, we want to invite our sisters, the Discalced Carmelites, to join us in making this spiritual pilgrimage to the anniversary celebrations. In connection with them and with the entire Carmelite family, we want to carry the torch of Teresian charism and focus our attention primarily on the value of inner prayer at the heart of the church and on the apostolic power of generous self-giving.
(Continued in the next issue.)
We quote Teresa's text in the forthcoming translation by Father Vojtěch Kohut, OCD:
Chapter 29, 13: The Lord wished me to have this vision here several times: I saw an angel beside me, on my left side, in bodily form, which I do not usually see, but very rarely. Although angels often come close to me, I do not see them, but it is like the previous visions I spoke about.
The Lord wanted me to have this vision in this way: the angel was not large, but small, very beautiful, with such a radiant face that he seemed to be one of those very exalted angels, of whom it seems that they are all burning. He would be among those known as cherubs, as I am not told their names; but I can clearly see that in heaven there is such a difference between one type of angels and another, and others and others, that I could not express it. I then saw in his hands a finely gilded spear, and at its tip, it seemed to me that it was a little heated. It seemed to me that he pierced my heart a few times, and penetrated down to my innermost being. When he withdrew it, it seemed to me that he pulled it out with him and left me entirely aflame with great love of God. The pain was so great that it made me weep, and at the same time this immense pain brings me such extreme pleasure that one cannot wish for it to cease, nor can the soul be satisfied with anything less than God Himself.
