Letter 71. To Don Alvaro de Mendoza, Bishop of Avila, Veas, May 11, 1575

The Saint speaks of Father Gradan whose acquaintance she made at Veas and of his ordering her to make a foundation at Seville.

JESUS!

May the grace of the Holy Spirit ever be with your Lordship!

stand the blessings of suffering so that I can peacefully endure the want of happiness in earthly things since they pass so quickly. You must know that I was arranging to spend this summer either at Avila or Valladolid when we received a visit from Father Gracian. He is now Provincial of Andalusia by commission of the Nuncio, who appointed him to this office after the Counter-brief. . . . He has such fine qualities and is a man of such mark that I should be glad if he went to pay his respecils to you, so that T might be sure I

• Father Jerome of the Mother of God (Gracian) son of the King's secretary, was born in 1545, and joined the Discalced Carmelites in 1572, having been already ordained priest. For the events of his life until St. Teresa's death, see the Introduction to the Letters. From the first, jealousy had been aroused against him by his rapid promotion and St. Teresa's partiality for him. She and St. John of the Cross defended him during her life-time but after that, his enemies were too strong for him. They accused him of laxity for encouraging the work of the ministry and for sending friars as missionaries to the Indies and to Africa: 'thinking', he says, 'that all Carmelite perfection consisted in friars never leaving their cells or missing choir . . . they called any other spirit relaxation and restlessness.' {Peregrin., Dial. I, p. 51). In 1588 Doria, as Vicar General, brought forward a new form of government called the Consulta by which the whole Order was to be ruled by its head and six consulters, the Priors being deprived of votes at the Chapters. For appealing to Rome against this and the abrogation of St. Teresa's Constitutions for the nuns, Doria expelled Father Gracian from the Order. The latter went to Rome but could obtain no redress nor vindication from the grave slanders made against his character. While on his way to join another Order his ship was captured by pirates and he was imprisoned for two years in a dungeon at Tunis with Christian prisoners and renegades, many of whom he converted. He was ransomed and succeeded in establishing his innocence in Rome. He did not rejoin the Discalced but became a Caked Carmelite, returned to Spain for a time, re-established the Priory on Mount Carmel, and was called by his friend the Archduke Albert to Brussels where, in 1607, he died reciting the prayer and antiphon of St. Teresa. Found, xxiii, note 2, etc. Peregrinación de Anastasio by Father Gracian himself. Burgos, 1905, and Le Pere Gratien et ses juges par le Pere Grégoire de S. Joseph.

am not mistaken in my opinion of him. He is anxious to do so since I told him how you have always protected the Order. It is a great consolation to me to know that we have so good a religious.

We shall leave for Seville on the Monday of next week: it is fifty leagues ofif. I do not think that Father Gracian would have forced me to undertake this work, but his mind was so set on it that, unless I consented, I should feel very scrupulous about being wanting in obedience, as I always strive to obey strid:ly. It costs me dear, nor am I very desirous of going through this scorching heat to pass the summer in Seville: God grant it may render Him service ! The rest matters little. I beg for your Lordship's blessing; do not forget to pray for me.

As they say there are couriers at Seville, I will write to you when I arrive; there are none at Veas which is a very out of the way place. God grant you good health as I and Father Julian de Avila constantly ask for you: he is a great help to me and begs to be remembered to your Lordship. We often think of you and of St. Joseph's convent, and of the rest I shall enjoy there later on. May it all render God service, and may He watch over you much more vigilantly than over me! To-day is the Eve of the Ascension.

Your Lordship's unworthy servant and subjedt,

Teresa de Jesus.

Glory be to God, I have kept well ever since I came here and am in much better health than usual.

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