Letter 343. To Mother Mary of St. Joseph, Prioress of Seville, Valladolid, December 28, 1580

Business affairs connected with the Indies. Don Lorenzo's chapel at Avila. Sister Beatriz.

JESUS, MARIA!

WY) ee the grace of the Holy Spirit be with you, my daughter, and may His Majesty have granted you as blessed a Christmas as I wished you!

I longed to write you this letter with my own hand, but am prevented by the state of my head and the preparations for starting to make the foundation at Palencia. Pray for us so that this work may render God great service. Glory be to God, I am better in health, and greatly cheered at hearing that you are. For the love of God, take care of yourself and.be careful not to drink much, as you know what harm it does you. T'wo nuns here who suffered from the same swellings were greatly benefited by taking an infusion of rhubarb for several mornings running. Consult your doctor and take it if he thinks it suitable.

I received both your letters, in one of which you tell me how glad you are at having our Father Gracian near you. I am glad to hear it, and to know that you have some one to comfort and advise you, for you have borne your trials alone for a long while. In the other letter your Reverence speaks about the Indies. I was relieved at learning that you had found some one who would undertake that affair, for it is the only resource left to the Salamanca community, and unless an answer comes before the date at which they must leave their present house, we shall find ourselves in a very awkward predicament. Therefore, for the love of God, make sure that the enclosed letter is safely sent: it contains the contraét drawn up for the sale of the house. If the addressee is dead, will you write to the persons named, asking them to manage the matter: even should he still be living, they might look after it and would perhaps do so with greater energy than the owner of the house himself. Besides, they would be sure to answer at once, which is the important point. Your Reverence must enjoin this, and must send with the letters the enclosed copy of the contraét. If need be, let a separate copy for each person concerned be forwarded with the letters. Tell the nuns to pray that the missives may arrive safely and that the affair may prosper.

As for what you say about the money for the chapel, do not let it trouble you if you cannot pay It at once: I wrote about it on account of the ~ purpose for which it was wanted.

I received the letter from the Indies together with yours. Be most careful that the one enclosed for my nephew Don Lorenzo is safely delivered to him. Remember me very kindly to the Mother Subprioress and the sisters. I am glad they are well again. They must know that they have not been the worst off, considering what we have suffered in this

TO MOTHER MARY OF S. JOSEPH 95 part of the country and the long time it has taken the invalids to recover. I am not myself again even yet.’

Lorenzo’s letter is not to be put in the parcel with the rest as he lives at a great distance from the other persons, but your Reverence must inquire for some person who is going to my nephew’s city or province, or whatever it is. Be sure, my daughter, to be very careful about the matter. Another memorandum about the purchase of the house is included in the packet. Nobody could believe what those nuns suffer and what trials they have been through. Your Reverence must give Don Lorenzo the address of your convent of St. Joseph as perhaps he may not remember it.

The money owing by you was destined by my brother to build a chapel in St. Joseph’s convent where he is buried. Do not send it to Don Francisco but to me, and I will get the receipt from him, for I am afraid he might spend it on something else, especially now that he is married. I do not wish to embarrass you, but you might get the sum from the dowries of the postulants who, our Father tells me, are about to enter your house.

I wish you had a larger kitchen-garden so that Beatriz had more to do. I cannot endure her excuses which do not deceive God, and her soul will have to answer for all the calumnies she uttered publicly, and many more of which I have been told in letters. Either the nuns speak the truth or she does.

Remember me kindly to Father Rodrigo Alvarez

?'The letter was written by a secretary up to this point, which accounts for the opening words, and the good Prior of las Cuevas. Oh, how glad I am that you look after him well! Give kind messages to the good Serrano and all my daughters. God have you in His keeping for me; be sure to inquire about the rhubarb, for it is a well known remedy.

To-day is the last of the Christmas festival in the year 1580.

Yours, Teresa de Jesus.