Letter 24. To a young lady about to consecrate herself by vow to our Lord

It was the custom in Spain at the time this letter was written , as we often read in St. Teresa's works , for young girls to consecrate themselves to our Lord by a vow of virginity and to live henceforth a life of penance in the worlds like the consecrated virgins of the early Church. The letter is probably addressed to Doha Sancha Carillo , a court beauty , who on the eve of a brilliant marriage made her confession to B. John of Avila , and at once decided to renounce the world. She made a vow of chastity and lived a most austere life in a hermitage adjoining her father's house at Quadalcazar. At the age of twenty-four , Andalusia being threatened with famine for want of water , Doha Sancha offered herself as a victim to appease Divine Justice that the country might be spared : God accepted the sacrifice , a time of plenty followed and the virgin was afflicted with the terrible disease of which she died on August iyh 1 537. It was for Doha Sancha that B. John of Avila wrote his celebrated treatise called “ Audi Filia." Her life has been written by Father Martin de Roa , S. J.

Devout servant of Jesus Christ, • I cannot find words to express my joy at hearing that you, who might Letter 11 easily have made an advantageous marriage in the world, have resolved to take the King of Heaven for your Spouse. The tidings, although new to me, as I had not been told it, yet was not altogether unexpected, for I had already secretly chosen you to be consecrated to the Lord Who created you, and I had begged you of Him as a great favour that I might offer you to Him. May His Name be for ever blessed for granting me far more than I thought of asking. What else was the happiness you felt at having freed yourself from the miseries of this world, and at having received the pledge of love from the celestial King, but a sign that your change of plans proceeded, not from your own inconstancy, but from God, Who had put the desire into your heart. The happiness came from him as a testimony and pledge of the many great and pure joys He will give you if you prove faithful to Him. The least or these is incomparably better than husband, children, riches, or anything else this world can give. Would that you knew by experience how sweet God is to those who forsake created things to gaze on their Creator! How tenderly the Divine Spouse cherishes those who cast away all transitory joys. They are like the chaste turtle doves which refuse all earthly comfort and long only for the love of their Lord in Heaven, and like the dove which returned from her flight from the ark to her master’s hand as pure as when she left him, undefiled by -having touched any dead body even with hef feet If anything the world contains of Jess account than a corpse full of corruption ? Why unite ourselves with what will only contaminate us? For {he bitterness its joys leave behind is a thousand times greater than any pleasure they give us. Return heartfelt thanks to Christ for the light to distinguish between the priceless and the worthless, between eternal and temporal things, between God and a mortal man. Be grateful to Him for grace to make the blessed choice and determination to cleave Jo God and refuse an earthly hvisband, and for love of ? Divine union to reject human wedlock, however advantageous. Be loyal to Him you choosy for your Bridegroom; you will see 'why He if called the pure" Spouse of virgins, and will find all joys in Him. Your union will not resemble earthly marriages, in which a little happiness is succeeded by bitter repentance; not only will it please you at first, but the more you dwell with our Lord the better you will know Him and the more dearly will you love Him- Christ is not like a man, whose faults we discover op intimacy, as one who appears to be a good husband on the wedding day, but who shortly proves t<p be one impossible to live with. There is nothing in our Lord to displease us, nor in our Blessed Lad y, who is the mother, of her Son’s b.rides. Blessed be the hour in which you took this resolve, and far more blessed the time when your Spp.pse yisit you yyit^ snch grpc^f "q* tetter in tb ttiafce ybu cry “ O my Lord, hb^,have i des'eHred tb fihd Thy hidden tredstire? A thdd- Sand lives would have been too little tb giVe in brdef to purchase it! ” What happy dnd fortunate espBusals! What joy Vvill they not bring both to heaven and earth ? God the Father delights tb see souls so love His Only-Begotten Son as to give tip all human affections for Him, and renouriefe riot only those pleasures Forbidden by His command, but even the lawful tie bf ttiarriage. To refuse for Christ’s sake what is peritiissible is a proof of fervent love for Him. The Son is the Bridegroom!; He died not only that some might love Him with pUrity of Soul, but that others should consecrate to Him the chastity of their bodies. The Holy Ghost is immaculate arid adverse to all impurity. , When He finds that a soul despises carnal pleasures. He watches over it, fills it with spiritual fconsolations and never leaves it unsatisfied since it has refused earthly consolations. Our Blessed Lady is the Mother of the Spouse, Whom she closely resembles, being most loving arid benign. She is the Queen of virgins, their protectof and their advocate; and rejoices to see virginity flourish on earth, for it is the flower she planted there. Nor is the wedding without pages tb attend it, for the angels are the servants of the Kihg bf heaven; always ready to do His bidding.

Children, too, which the world so desires^ spring from this union; they are born without paiih, they give ho trouble to educate, ndf bring sorrow by turning out badly, or dying young. The children of this marriage are good works, which may well be called the fruit of Christians. What a joy for the soul to conceive the purpose of giving an alms to the poor or of performing some other good works, and to give it birth by practising it. These children bring both happiness and honour to their mother. She has no need of finding a dowry, for they will bring one rich enough to purchase heaven for her. They will obtain for her such peace of mind that she will lie down to sleep at night more calm and satisfied than if she were mistress of the earth with all its pleasures. Now, tell me, what is there in the world, though worth its weight in gold, which can approach to such gains as these? For one hour of pleasure here, we suffer a hundred hours of pain: and if there exists happiness without alloy, it will not last for ever, for either the wife or the husband will die, and so all will end in sorrow. Even if the children do not die first, their mother weeps at parting from them. Rejoice! then, Bride of Christ, for your Spouse is immortal, and at your death your good works, which are your offspring, will surround you. You will not suffer grief at leaving them, for they will accompany you to God’s throne; there they will more than repay all the pain and labour they have cost, and their mother will be welcomed for her children’s sake. Death will not dissolve this marriage, but nither unite the Bride and Bridegroom closer to one another. Christ will deliver you, for He is the Lord of life and death, and no devil shall dare to touch you, whom God has taken under his protection and honoured with the name of Spouse. The angels will come to minister to you, and present you to Almighty God; singing praises to Him and calling down benedictions on you, they will say: “Come Bride of Christ, and receive the crown He has prepared for thee.” Our Lady, too, will be there, with many other virgins who have gladly trodden the same path on earth. Thus you will leave this world with your fellow-virgins and ascend to the nuptial chamber which our Lord has prepared for you, where you will always enjoy riches, plenty and happiness in the house and in the presence of God. You will be absorbed in incessant contemplation of His infinite beauty; one hour of such joy is a reward greater than could be deserved by all that you have suffered, or that has been, or ever will be, borne by the whole human race. All the end for which you were created, and will possess God more fully than can be told or imagined. Your soul will overflow with joy, like one who is in a sea of delights, surrounding him on every side. Then you will see, praise, enjoy and possess the Lord of all things, and wul cry out: “ I have Him Whom I have loved; I have found Him I sought for. He, for Whom I renounced the world, has become mjr W&gfes &hd niy 'reward, and tiim Will I priise SUia kite unto endless ages.” Amen.