Letter (number unidentified). To Doña Ana Enriquez, at Toro, Valladolid, December 21 and 23, 1575

The ¡Saint regrets not finding her at Valladolid. Virtues oj the nuns at Valladolid. Father Baltasar Alvarez. Father Banez sermon.

JESUS! May the grace ot the Holy Spirit ever be with you !

IT would have been a great pleasure to have found you here. I should have counted my journey well spent if I could have talked with you here at greater leisure than at Salamanca. But I have not deserved this favour from our Lord. May He be for ever praised! The Prioress here enjoyed all that leisure but she is better than I, and very devoted to you.

I am delighted to hear that my Father, Baltasar Alvarez, has been stopping with you for a few days to comfort you after your many trials. God be praised that your health is better than usual! Mine is stronger than it has been for several years, which is a great thing to say in this weather.

I found such souls in this house that I thanked God tor them. Stephany seems to me a real saint, but Casilda's qualities, and the divine favours shown her since she took the habit, were a great joy to me. May His Majesty perfed: His work. We ought to set a high value on souls He takes for His own at so early an age. Stephany's simplicity regarding everything but divine matters is astonishing, considering what wisdom her words reveal concerning the truth.

The Father Provincial" visited this convent and presided at the election. The Prioress is the same as before; the Subprioress is a nun from St.Joseph's, Avila, named Antonia del Espiritu Santo; Señora Doña Yomar knows her; she has an excellent spirit.

The foundation at Zamora is abandoned for the moment and will not be made for some time. I had already planned to give myself the pleasure of passing through your town to kiss your hands.

It is a long while since 1 either heard from my Father, Baltasar Alvarez, or wrote to him, though it certainly has not been in order to mortify myself, as I never improve in that résped: — or indeed in any other, I think. But letters worry me terribly, and when one is to be written solely for my own pleasure, I never find time for it. God be praised that we shall enjoy Him without fail in eternity, for really, in this world, what with constant changes and separations, we can find little solace in anything. We get through life by hoping for the end of it: they say life is full of trials, but it does not seem so to me.

The Mother Prioress mentions my guardian; she is as pleased as I am with his politeness : may our Lord make a great saint of him! Please remember me kindly to him: I often pray to our Lord for him and for Señor Don Juan Antonio. For the love of God, do not forget to pray for me, for I always need it.

As for Señora Doña Yomar, your information, confirmed bv her, frees us from all anxiety on her account. I should like to know the details of the happy event and to understand the matter so as to share your joy. May our Lord give you as deep a spiritual joy this Christmas as I shall ask of Him!

To-day, the feast of St. Thomas, Father Domingo preached to us, speaking in such a way of trials that I wished I had many and I hope God will not spare me in the future. I enjoyed his sermon immensely. He has been eleóled Prior, but it is not known whether the election has been confirmed. He has been so busy that I have enjoyed little of his society, yet how happy I should be could I see as much of you! God grant I may, and may He give you the health and rest you need to gain the rest that never ends! To-morrow will be Christmas Eve.

Your unworthy servant and subjeól,

Teresa de Jesus.