Learning from the Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila: On Love and Suffering

Writer's note: A special thank you goes out to the 2017-2018 Identity Project ND, especially the 2018 Co-chairs of the Edith Stein Project, for allowing me my first opportunity to write and present a paper.

Presented Saturday, February 17, 2018

From an early age, Saint Teresa of Ávila strove for Sainthood. As the child of avid readers, she grew up listening to the lives of the Saints. Her father read in a more solemn tone, whereas her mother read in a more audacious tone that captured Teresa’s attention. The young girl was captivated by the stories of the Saints—so much so that she wanted to emulate them. Alive with the ardor for adventure and love for God, at the age of 6, she and her brother Rodrigo, who was only 4 years her elder, set out for Africa to achieve martyrdom in combating the Moors. Their plans, however, were soon thwarted: their uncle spotted them in the midst of their march down the road and dragged them back home. Though she would never quite experience the crusades she so longed for, Teresa would meet her match in the tribulations she would experience later in her life. Suffering for love of God made her saintly, for it is written in Holy Scripture: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For he that will save his life shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26, DR). Loving Christ to the point of imitation is a mark of holiness. Teresa well knew that the spirit was willing and the flesh was weak, but she nonetheless fought for sanctity.

Taking up one’s cross is indeed a battle, though one does not have to take this spiritual struggle on alone. We, as the Church Militant, are all at war with our spiritual enemies; in conquering these battles, we become closer to Christ. And so, we must face the cross and not turn from it; we must pray for one another as the saints in Heaven pray for us, so that we may attain what Christ purchased for us in his suffering and death. The Carmelite mystic explains this in her Life as such: “For one who has sickness it is a great thing to find another stricken by it too. It is a great comfort for him to see that he is not alone: the two are of mutual help in their sufferings and their deservings. They stand shoulder to shoulder, ready for God’s sake to risk a thousand lives and longing for a chance to lose them. They are like soldiers who, in order to win booty and grow rich upon it, are spoiling for war, realizing that without fighting they can never become rich at all. Toiling in this way, in fact, is their profession. Oh, what a great thing it is, when the Lord gives this light, to know how much we are gaining in suffering for His sake!” (The Autobiography of Saint Teresa of Ávila, Ch. XXXIV, 238). In the spiritual life, one fights to attain virtue no matter how difficult it may be, not relying solely on his own strength, but on the grace of God. An increase in virtue is an increase in holiness, which merits one the reward of his Father in Heaven. That is what this life is about, after all: to know, to love, and to serve God in this world and be happy with Him in the next.

If we do not fight for the incorruptible crown while on this earth, then what are we really living for? “We cannot properly understand this [suffering for the sake of God] until we have given up everything,” writes the Spanish saint, “for, if there is a single thing to which a man clings, it is a sign that he sets some value upon it; and if he sets some value upon it, it will naturally distress him to give it up, and so everything will be imperfection and loss. ‘He who follows what is lost is himself lost’: that saying is appropriate here. And what greater loss, what greater blindness, what greater misfortune is there than to set a great price on what is nothing?” (Ibid., Ch. XXXIV, 238). This still rings true today. In our modern day and age, we place value in meaningless things. Our society runs from the memento mori of the Cross, eluding old age with medication that retains youth. While society attempts to avoid death, it still allows the death of those they deem to have no value—such as the unborn and those in vegetative states—because they provide no benefit to the meaningless lifestyle of the greater population. This culture of death perpetuates death for they are dead themselves. Only he who dies to self truly lives. Though, we too are also enthralled by the things of this world: the flashing screens, the incessant noise, and the materialistic tendencies of this day; this all can make it difficult for us to take a moment and enter into the silence where God resides. We invest much time and energy into things that only satisfy us for but a moment. What is that to eternity? It is such a loss when we waste part of our lives loving things over loving people and loving God, for the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength, and to love thy neighbour as thyself.

Henceforth, following our will alone hinders our spiritual growth, so it is in following the will of God that helps our spiritual growth. Yet, of course, a soul cannot progress in the spiritual life if it does not fully place its trust in God. The Lord our God is not only Lord, but also our friend. So, he is One we can confide in. Saint Teresa explains this in her Life, “Although He is my Lord, I can talk to Him as a friend, because He is not, I believe, like those whom we call lords on earth, all of whose power rests upon an authority conferred on them by others. Such lords have fixed hours for audiences and persons whom they appoint for the purpose of speaking with them… O King of glory and Lord of all kings! Thy kingdom is not fenced in by trifles, but is infinite. No third party is required to obtain us audience of Thee. We have only to look at Thy person to see at once that Thou alone deservest to be called Lord” (Ibid., Ch. XXXVII, 264). We need not fear when approaching the Lord, for there is no impediment for his attention: it is only our own stubbornness and the deafness caused by our inattention that serve as obstacles. And yet, he never fails us: He remains our friend even when we are unfriendly to Him, he who is goodness and mercy Himself.  Saint Teresa affirms the intensity of God’s love for us, “...Thou canst do all Thou wilt and never dost Thou cease to will if we love Thee… All things fail, but thou, Lord of them all, failest never. Little is the suffering that Thou dost allow to those who love Thee… Thou seemest, Lord, to give severe tests to those who love Thee, but only that in the extremity of their trials they may learn the greater extremity of Thy love" (Ibid., Ch. XXV, 163).

Be not afraid of suffer for love of the Lord, for His yoke is sweet and His burden is light. Teresa attests that this is so, “trials like these, unbearable as they may seem, eventually become light, and the soul becomes anxious to suffer again if by doing it can render the Lord greater service. And, however numerous may be our trouble and persecutions, if we endure them without offending the Lord, but rejoice to suffer for His sake, they all work together for our greater gain– though I do not myself bear them as they should be borne, but in a way which is most imperfect” (Ibid., Ch. XXX, 201). Being a saint does not consist in happily taking on tribulation, but in willingly taking on tribulation. We must put our sufferings, which purgate our souls, then, in perspective of what Christ, in his humility, has suffered for us. After all, the Carmelite Saint has written,  “I must fix my eyes on all that He had suffered and I should find everything easy" (Ibid., Ch. XXVI, 168). Only then can we find the salvific and redemptive nature in suffering on account of our love for God. It was He who loved us first by sending down his Son as expiation for our sins. He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Christ, out of His love for us, lost his life to gain for us eternal life; so too, it is only in losing our lives for love of Him that we save our lives. For unto you it is given for Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, you worthy servants of the Lord.