The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
Letter written by the Saint to Father García de Toledo
when sending him her Life
May the Holy Spirit be ever with Your Reverence. Amen. It would not be a bad
idea if I were to exaggerate the importance of this task of mine to Your
Reverence so as to impose upon you the obligation to commend me earnestly to
Our Lord, as well I might after what I have suffered through finding that I
have written about so many of my miserable deeds and have thus called attention
to them; though I can truly say I have felt more keenly having to write of the
favours which the Lord has bestowed upon me than of the offenses which I have
committed against His Majesty. I have done what Your Reverence commanded me,
and written at length, on the condition that Your Reverence will do as you
promised me and tear up anything that seems to you wrong. I had not finished
reading through what I had written when Your Reverence sent for it. Some things
in it may be badly explained and others set down twice, for I have had so
little time that I have been unable to re-read all that I have written. I
beseech Your Reverence to amend it, and, if it is to be sent to Father-Master
Ávila, to have it copied, for otherwise someone might recognize the
handwriting.
I am most anxious that the order shall be given for him to see it, as it was
with this intention that I began to write it and, if he thinks I am on the
right road, this will be a great comfort to me, for I can only do what lies in
my power. Your Reverence must act in everything as you think best and realize
your obligations to one who thus entrusts you with her soul.
I shall commend Your Reverence's soul to Our Lord all my life long. Be
assiduous, therefore, in serving His Majesty, so as to help me, for Your
Reverence will see from what I have written here how well we use our time if we
do as Your Reverence has begun to do and give ourselves wholly to Him Who gives
Himself to us without measure.
May He be blessed for ever, and I trust in His mercy that Your Reverence and I
shall see each other in a place where we shall realize more clearly what great
things He has done for us and praise Him for ever and-ever. Amen.
This book was ended in June of the year MDLXII.[370]