Letter 13. To Diego Ortiz, Citizen of Toledo, Valladolid, January 9, 1569

The Saint congratulates him on his projeSi of founding a convent at Toledo and promises to make the foundation herself.

May the Holy Ghost ever dwell in your soul and fill you with His holy love and fear! Amen.

DOCTOR Paul Hernandez writes telling me of your kind and charitable proje(ft of founding a house of our holy Order. I do not doubt that our Lord and His glorious Mother, my Lady and Patroness, have inspired you to perform so good a work, which I hope will render great service to His Majesty and draw down upon you many spiritual graces. May He bring this about as I and all the nuns here beg of Him ! In future the whole Order will pray for you. It is a great consolation to me, and I wish to make your acquaintance so that I may offer myself to you as your servant as henceforth you must consider me to be.

Since our Lord has been pleased to preserve me from the fever, I shall arrange to leave this house in a satisfactory state as soon as possible, as I think that, with God's help, it will be shortly. I promise to lose no time nor to take any notice of bad health even should the fever return, so that I may start without delay. Since you are doing all, it is only fair that I should take my part which amounts to nothing, and that I should bear a little trouble. And indeed, we should seek naught else, for we claim to follow Him Who, far as He was from deserving them, passed His whole life in bearing troubles.

I exped: to gain in more than one way from this foundation, as from what my Father Paul Hernandez writes it will be an immense gain to make your acquaintance because it is by the prayers of others that I have been sustained in the past, so that, for the love of our Lord, I entreat you not to forget me when you prav.

God willing, I exped: to reach Toledo after the second week of Lent at the latest, for although we shall soon leave Valladolid I shall call in passing at the convents which, with God's help, have been founded during the last ten years and I must stay a few days in each. I shall remain as short a time as possible since you desire my presence, although the matter is so well arranged, indeed accomplished — that I shall have nothing to do but to insped the convent and thank our Lord. May His Majesty have you in His keeping and grant you the long life, health, and grace for which I ask! Amen. To-day is the ninth of January. Your unworthy servant,

Teresa de Jesus, Carmelite.