I was contemplating whether those who are annoyed that I am leaving the cloister to establish convents might be right, and whether it would be better for me to devote myself more diligently to prayer. In that moment, I perceived these words: “As long as a person is on earth, they do not benefit as much from basking in my presence as they do from fulfilling my will.”
It seemed to me that God's will for me was expressed in the words of St. Paul about women living in seclusion, as I had also been recently quoted and had heard several times. However, He said to me: “Let them know that it is necessary to keep in mind the entire Holy Scripture. Not just one part, but all the contexts. Or do they want to bind my hands?”
(Teresa of Jesus, Spiritual Relations 19; June 30, 1571)
