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Chapter 16CastilloInt.1.16

Moradas sextas, Capítulo 3. Trata de la misma materia y dice de la manera que habla Dios al alma cuando es servido, y avisa cómo se han de haber en esto y no seguirse por su parecer. - Pone algunas señales para que se conozca cuándo no es engaño y cuándo lo es. - Es de harto provecho.

The Danger of Fancy and Melancholy

Teresa introduces a dangerous way God speaks to the soul, warning that it can be mere fancy, especially in melancholic persons, and advises how to treat such souls gently.

1. God has another way of waking the soul, and although it might seem like a greater favor than those already mentioned, it can be more dangerous. For that reason, I’ll linger on it a little: namely, certain words spoken to the soul in many ways. Some seem to come from outside, others from the soul's very interior, others from its higher part, and others so much in the exterior that they're heard with the ears, as if they were a formed voice.1 Sometimes—and often—it can be mere fancy, especially in people with a weak imagination or who are melancholy—I mean, those with a marked case of melancholy.2 2. In my opinion, you shouldn't pay attention to these two kinds of people, even if they say they see and hear and understand, nor unsettle them by saying it's the devil; instead, listen to them as you would to sick people, with the prioress or the confessor—whoever she tells it to—telling her not to pay attention to it, that it isn't what really matters for serving God, and that the devil has deceived many that way, though perhaps it won't be so with her, so as not to afflict her more than her temperament already does; because if they tell her it's melancholy, she'll never leave off—she'll swear she sees it and hears it, because that's how it seems to her.34 3. It's true that you need to take care to take prayer away from her, and as much as you can, see that she pays no attention to it; because the devil usually takes advantage of these souls who are sick like this—even if not for their own harm, then for the harm of others; and for both the sick and the healthy, you always have to fear these things until you come to understand the spirit.5 And I say that at the beginning it's always best to undo it for her; because if it's from God, that helps her go forward all the more, and it grows when it's tested.6 That's how it is—but without pressing the soul hard or unsettling her, because she truly can't do any more.

Three Signs of Authentic Divine Locutions

The first three signs of genuine locutions are power to calm turmoil, quiet recollection, and lasting memory with certainty, with examples of their effects.

4. Returning to what I said about words spoken to the soul: in all the ways I have described, they can come from God, the devil, or one's own imagination. I'll set out, if I get it right, with the Lord's favor, the signs that mark these differences and when these words are dangerous. Because there are many souls among people of prayer who understand them, and I'd want you, sisters, not to think you're doing wrong by withholding credence from them, nor by giving them credence when they're only for yourselves—as a gift of consolation or a warning about your own faults; let whoever speaks them speak them, or let it be a whim, for little hangs on it.7 One thing I warn you: don't think that even if they come from God you'll be better for that—He spoke plenty to the Pharisees, and all the good lies in how these words are put to use; and of any that don't run fully in line with Scripture, pay no more heed than if you heard them from the devil himself; because even if they come from your own weak imagination, they have to be taken as a temptation in matters of the faith, and so always resisted, so that they may fade away—and they will fade, because they carry little force with them.8 5. So returning to the first point: whether it comes from within, from above, or from outside, that doesn't keep it from being from God. The surest signs one can have, in my view, are these: the first and truest is the power and authority they carry with them—that is, in speaking and in acting.9 I'll explain further: a soul is in all the tribulation and interior turmoil already described, with darkness of understanding and dryness; with one of these words that says only, "Don't be distressed," she is left calm and without any distress, and with great light—all that anguish taken away which, it seemed to her, the whole world and all the learned people who might gather to give her reasons not to feel it could not, no matter how hard they worked, take away from that affliction.10 She is afflicted because her confessor and others have told her that the spirit she has is from the devil, and she is filled with fear; and with only one word spoken to her—'I am; do not be afraid'—it is taken from her completely, and she is left deeply consoled, feeling that no one will be able to make her believe otherwise. She is in great distress over some serious affairs whose outcome she doesn't know: she understands she is to calm herself—that everything will turn out well.11 She is left with certainty and without distress. And in this same way, many other things. 6. The second reason is a great quiet that remains in the soul, and a devout and peaceful recollection, leaving it ready for the praises of God. O Lord! If a word sent to be spoken by one of Your pages — for according to what they say, at least these words in this dwelling are not spoken by the Lord Himself but by some angel — has such force, how great will You leave it in the soul that is bound by love to You, and You to it?12 7. The third sign is that these words don't fade from the memory for a very long time, and some never do—unlike the ones we understand here below, I mean the ones we hear from people; for even if those speakers are very serious and learned, we don't have their words so deeply carved in memory, nor, if they concern things still to come, do we believe them as we believe these; for a very great certainty remains, so that even though sometimes—when the matter seems altogether impossible—doubt does come about whether it will happen or not, and the understanding goes through some wavering, in the soul itself there is a security that cannot be surrendered, even if everything seems to go contrary to what was understood, and years pass, that thought is not taken away: that God will find other means people don't understand, but that in the end it has to be done; and so it is done; still, as I say, the soul doesn't stop suffering when it sees many setbacks, because time has passed since it understood this, and the operations and certainty that remain in the present of its being from God are already past, so these doubts have room—wondering whether it was the devil, whether it was from the imagination.13 None of these doubts remain in the present; rather, the soul would die for that truth.14 But, as I say, with all these imaginings—which the devil must plant to cause distress and cow the soul, especially if it concerns a matter in which, once what was understood is carried out, there is to be much good for souls, and works for God's great honor and service, and there is great difficulty in them—what won't he do? At the very least, he weakens the faith—and it is no small harm not to believe that God is powerful enough to do works our understanding cannot grasp. 8. With all these battles—even if someone tells that same person they're nonsense (I mean the confessors with whom these things are discussed), and with however many bad turns of events there may be to make it look as though they can't be fulfilled—there remains a spark, I don't know where, so alive with the certainty that it will happen, even when every other hope is dead, that that spark of certainty couldn't go out even if she wanted it to.15 And in the end—as I've said—the Lord's word is fulfilled, and the soul is left so content and joyful that she would want nothing but to praise God always, and far more for seeing what had been said to her fulfilled than for the work itself, even though a great deal may come of it for her.

The Soul's Certainty and the Enemy's Subtlety

The soul's deep certainty persists despite doubts, and the devil attacks especially when great good for souls is at stake; Teresa warns against acting on locutions without a confessor and introduces intellectual vision.

9. I don't know what to make of this—that the soul sets such store by these words proving true that if the same person were caught in a few lies, I don't think she'd feel it as keenly; as if she somehow had more power in this, though she says nothing but what is said to her.16 Countless times a certain person remembered the prophet Jonah over this, when he feared that Nineveh was not going to be destroyed. In short, since it is the Spirit of God, it is only right that this fidelity should be shown Him in wanting that He not be taken for false, for He is the supreme Truth. And so the joy is great when, after a thousand twists and turns and in the most difficult things, she sees it fulfilled; even if great trials are to follow for that same person from it, she would rather endure them than let what she holds for certain the Lord told her go unfulfilled. Perhaps not everyone will have this weakness—if it is one—for I cannot condemn it as bad. 10. If they come from the imagination, none of these signs are present—neither certainty nor peace and inner delight—except that it could happen, and I even know of some people to whom it has happened while they were deeply absorbed in the prayer of quiet and spiritual sleep: some are so weak in constitution or imagination, or I don't know the cause, that truly in this deep recollection they are so beside themselves that they feel nothing outwardly, and all the senses are so drowsy that, like a person who is asleep—and perhaps they really are dozing—as in a kind of dream it seems to them that they are being spoken to and even that they see things, and they think it is from God, and in the end the effects they leave behind are like those of a dream.17 And it could also be that, while affectionately begging our Lord for something, it seems to them that He tells them what they want—and this does happen sometimes. But anyone who has had much experience of God's speaking will not, in my view, be deceived about this by the imagination.18 11. The devil is more to be feared. But if the signs already mentioned are present, you can be quite sure it is from God—though not so sure that if what is said to you is something serious that must be put into practice regarding yourself or other people's affairs, you should ever do anything, or even let the thought of it cross your mind, without the counsel of a learned and prudent confessor who is a servant of God, no matter how clearly you understand it and how plain it seems to you that it is from God; because this is what His Majesty wants, and it is not failing to do what He commands, since He has told us to hold the confessor in His place, where there can be no doubt that the words are His; and these locutions help give you courage if the matter is difficult, and our Lord will dispose the confessor and make him believe it is His spirit when He wills it; and if He does not, you are under no further obligation.19 And for anyone to do anything other than what has been said, and to follow their own judgment in this, I consider a very dangerous thing; and so, sisters, I warn you on our Lord's behalf that it never happen to you. 12. There is another way the Lord speaks to the soul—one I am certain comes from Him—through a kind of intellectual vision; I will explain what that is like later. It reaches so deep into the inmost part of the soul, and it seems so clear to hear those words with the soul's own ears from the Lord Himself—and so secretly—that the very way they are understood, along with the effects the vision produces, provides an assurance and certainty that the devil can have no part in it.20 It leaves great effects that lead one to believe this; at the least there is assurance that it does not come from the imagination. And also, if one is attentive, one can always have this certainty about it, for these reasons: first, because it must differ in the clarity of the speech — which is so clear that if even one syllable is missing from what was understood, the soul remembers it, and whether it was said in one style or another, even if it is all one sentence; and what is fancied by the imagination will not be speech so clear or words so distinct, but like something half-dreamed.2122

Five Marks to Distinguish Imagination from God's Voice

Teresa gives five distinguishing marks: unexpectedness, not self-composed, brevity with depth, infused understanding, and the devil's inability to produce peace.

13. The second is that here one often wasn't thinking about what was understood—I mean it comes unexpectedly, and sometimes even while one is in conversation—although often it does answer something that quickly passes through the mind, or something already thought about; but many times it concerns things of which the soul never had any notion that they were going to be or would be, and so the imagination could not have fabricated them so that the soul would deceive itself by fancying what it had neither desired nor wanted nor even come to know about. 14. The third, because the one is like someone who hears, and what comes from the imagination is like someone who goes composing, little by little, what he himself wants to be told. 15. The fourth is because the words are very different, and a single one conveys a great deal — more than our understanding could put together so quickly. 16. The fifth reason is that, along with the words, much more is often given to be understood—in a way I can't explain—than what the words themselves sound like. I'll discuss this way of understanding elsewhere, as it's a very delicate matter that leads to praising our Lord. Some people have been very doubtful about these methods and distinctions—especially those who have experienced them, and there will be others who could never quite make sense of their own experiences. I know she has looked into this with great care, because the Lord has granted her this favor many times. Her greatest doubt was whether it was merely her own imagination at the beginning. If it is the devil, that can be recognized more quickly, though his subtleties are so many that he knows well how to counterfeit the spirit of light. In my opinion, the difference will be in the words: if they are said very clearly, no doubt remains about whether they were understood in the spirit of truth. The devil cannot counterfeit the effects already described, nor can he leave that peace or light in the soul; instead, he leaves only unrest and turmoil.2324 But he can do little or no harm if the soul is humble and does what I've said: not stir herself to do anything based on what she understands.

Humility and Surrender to the Great Lord

True gifts produce humility; the soul cannot refuse God's words; Teresa concludes with a prayer for self-forgetfulness.

17. If they are favors and gifts from the Lord, look carefully whether because of them she thinks herself better; and if, the greater the word of favor, she does not remain more abashed, believe that it is not the spirit of God. For it is very certain that when it is, the greater the mercy He grants her, the much less that same soul thinks of herself, and the more she keeps her sins in mind, and the more forgetful she is of her own gain, and the more occupied her will and memory are in wanting only the honor of God and not remembering her own advantage; and she walks with greater fear of twisting her will in anything, and with greater certainty that she never deserved those mercies—only hell. As long as all the things and mercies she may have in prayer produce these effects, let the soul not go about frightened, but confident in the mercy of the Lord, who is faithful and will not let the devil deceive her—though it is always good that she walk with fear. 18. It may be that those whom the Lord does not lead by this path will think these souls could simply not listen to the words spoken to them and, if the words are interior, distract themselves so that they aren't admitted — and that way they'd go free of these dangers. To this, I answer that it's impossible. I'm not talking about the ones that merely strike the fancy; those have a remedy if you stop craving something so hard and refuse to pay attention to the imaginings.25 Here there is none; because the same Spirit that speaks stops all other thoughts and makes one attend to what is said in such a way that it seems to me, in some sense — and I believe it's so — that it would be more possible not to understand a person shouting at the top of her voice to another who heard perfectly well; for she could fail to pay attention and put her thought and understanding on something else; but in what we're dealing with, that can't be done: there are no ears to stop up, nor any power to think of anything but what is said to her, in any way; because He who could make the sun stand still — at Joshua's request, I believe it was — can make the faculties and the whole interior stand still so that the soul sees clearly that another, greater Lord governs that castle than she does, and He fills her with abundant devotion and humility.26 So there's no remedy at all in trying to refuse it.27 May His divine Majesty grant it to us, so that we set our eyes only on pleasing Him and forget ourselves, as I've said. Amen. May it please Him that I've succeeded in making clear what I meant in this, and that it may serve as some warning for whoever has this experience.

Read the original Spanish

1. Otra manera tiene Dios de despertar al alma, y aunque en alguna manera parece mayor merced que las dichas, podrá ser más peligrosa y por eso me detendré algo en ella, que son unas hablas con el alma de muchas maneras: unas parece vienen de fuera, otras de lo muy interior del alma, otras de lo superior de ella, otras tan en lo exterior que se oyen con los oídos, porque parece es voz formada. Algunas veces, y muchas, puede ser antojo, en especial en personas de flaca imaginación o melancólicas, digo de melancolía notable.

2. De estas dos maneras de personas no hay que hacer caso, a mi parecer, aunque digan que ven y oyen y entienden, ni inquietarlas con decir que es demonio; sino oírlas como a personas enfermas, diciendo la priora o confesor, a quien lo dijere, que no haga caso de ello, que no es la sustancia para servir a Dios y que a muchos ha engañado el demonio por allí, aunque no será quizá así a ella, por no la afligir más que trae con su humor; porque si le dicen que es melancolía, nunca acabará, que jurará que lo ve y lo oye, porque le parece así.

3. Verdad es, que es menester traer cuenta con quitarle la oración, y lo más que se pudiere que no haga caso de ello; porque suele el demonio aprovecharse de estas almas así enfermas, aunque no sea para su daño, para el de otros; y a enfermas y sanas, siempre de estas cosas hay que temer hasta ir entendiendo el espíritu. Y digo que siempre es lo mejor a los principios deshacérsele; porque si es de Dios, es más ayuda para ir adelante, y antes crece cuando es probado. Esto es así, mas no sea apretando mucho el alma e inquietándola, porque verdaderamente ella no puede más.

4. Pues tornando a lo que decía de las hablas con el ánima, de todas las maneras que he dicho, pueden ser de Dios y también del demonio y de la propia imaginación. Diré, si acertare, con el favor del Señor, las señales que hay en estas diferencias y cuándo serán estas hablas peligrosas. Porque hay muchas almas que las entienden entre gente de oración, y querría, hermanas, que no penséis hacéis mal en no las dar crédito, ni tampoco en dársele cuando son solamente para vosotras mismas, de regalo o aviso de faltas vuestras, dígalas quien las dijere, o sea antojo, que poco va en ello. De una cosa os aviso, que no penséis, aunque sean de Dios, seréis por eso mejores, que harto habló a los fariseos, y todo el bien está cómo se aprovechan de estas palabras; y ninguna que no vaya muy conforme a la Escritura hagáis más caso de ellas que si las oyeseis al mismo demonio; porque aunque sean de vuestra flaca imaginación, es menester tomarse como una tentación de cosas de la fe, y así resistir siempre, para que se vayan quitando; y sí quitarán, porque llevan poca fuerza consigo.

5. Pues tornando a lo primero, que venga de lo interior, que de lo superior, que de lo exterior, no importa para dejar de ser de Dios. Las más ciertas señales que se puede tener, a mi parecer, son éstas: la primera y más verdadera es el poderío y señorío que traen consigo, que es hablando y obrando. Declárome más: está un alma en toda la tribulación y alboroto interior que queda dicho y oscuridad del entendimiento y sequedad; con una palabra de éstas que diga solamente: no tengas pena, queda sosegada y sin ninguna, y con gran luz, quitada toda aquella pena con que le parecía que todo el mundo y letrados que se juntaran a darle razones para que no la tuviese, no la pudieran con cuanto trabajaran quitar de aquella aflicción. Está afligida por haberle dicho su confesor y otros, que es espíritu del demonio el que tiene, y toda llena de temor: y con una palabra que se le diga sólo: Yo soy, no hayas miedo, se le quita del todo y queda consoladísima, y pareciéndole que ninguno bastará a hacerla creer otra cosa. Está con mucha pena de algunos negocios graves, que no sabe cómo han de suceder: entiende, que se sosiegue que todo sucederá bien. Queda con certidumbre y sin pena. Y de esta manera otras muchas cosas.

6. La segunda razón, una gran quietud que queda en el alma, y recogimiento devoto y pacífico, y dispuesta para alabanzas de Dios. ¡Oh Señor! Si una palabra enviada a decir con un paje vuestro que a lo que dicen, al menos éstas en esta morada no las dice el mismo Señor, sino algún ángel), tienen tanta fuerza, ¿qué tal la dejaréis en el alma que está atada por amor con Vos y Vos con ella?

7. La tercera señal es no pasarse estas palabras de la memoria en muy mucho tiempo y algunas jamás, como se pasan las que por acá entendemos, digo que oímos de los hombres; que aunque sean muy graves y letrados, no las tenemos tan esculpidas en la memoria, ni tampoco, si son en cosas por venir, las creemos como a éstas; que queda una certidumbre grandísima, de manera que, aunque algunas veces en cosas muy imposibles al parecer, no deja de venirle duda si será o no será y andan con algunas vacilaciones el entendimiento, en la misma alma está una seguridad que no se puede rendir, aunque le parezca que vaya todo al contrario de lo que entendió, y pasan años, no se le quita aquel pensar que Dios buscará otros medios que los hombres no entienden, mas que, en fin, se ha de hacer; y así es que se hace; aunque, como digo, no se deja de padecer cuando ve muchos desvíos, porque como ha tiempo que lo entendió y las operaciones y certidumbre que al presente quedan de ser Dios es ya pasado, han lugar estas dudas, pensando si fue demonio, si fue de la imaginación. Ninguna de éstas le queda al presente, sino que moriría por aquella verdad. Mas, como digo, con todas estas imaginaciones, que debe poner el demonio para dar pena y acobardar el alma, en especial si es en negocio que en el hacerse lo que se entendió ha de haber muchos bienes de almas, y es obras para gran honra y servicio de Dios, y en ellas hay gran dificultad, ¿qué no hará? Al menos enflaquece la fe, que es harto daño no creer que Dios es poderoso para hacer obras que no entienden nuestros entendimientos.

8. Con todos estos combates, aunque haya quien diga a la misma persona que son disparates digo los confesores con quien se tratan estas cosas), y con cuantos malos sucesos hubiere para dar a entender que no se pueden cumplir, queda una centella -no sé dónde- tan viva de que será, aunque todas las demás esperanzas estén muertas, que no podría, aunque quisiese, dejar de estar viva aquella centella de seguridad. Y en fin -como he dicho- se cumple la palabra del Señor, y queda el alma tan contenta y alegre, que no querría sino alabar siempre a Su Majestad y mucho más por ver cumplido lo que se le había dicho, que por la misma obra, aunque le vaya muy mucho en ella.

9. No sé en qué va esto que tiene en tanto el alma que salgan estas palabras verdaderas, que si a la misma persona la tomasen en algunas mentiras, no creo sentiría tanto; como si ella en esto pudiese más, que no dice sino lo que la dicen. Infinitas veces se acordaba cierta persona de Jonás, profeta, sobre esto, cuando temía no había de perderse Nínive. En fin, como es espíritu de Dios, es razón se le tenga esta fidelidad en desear no le tengan por falso, pues es la suma verdad. Y así es grande la alegría, cuando después de mil rodeos y en cosas dificultosísimas lo ve cumplido; aunque a la misma persona se le hayan de seguir grandes trabajos de ello, los quiere más pasar que no que deje de cumplirse lo que tiene por cierto le dijo el Señor. Quizá no todas personas tendrán esta flaqueza, si lo es, que no lo puedo condenar por malo.

10. Si son de la imaginación, ninguna de estas señales hay, ni certidumbre ni paz y gusto interior; salvo que podría acaecer, y aun yo sé de algunas personas a quien ha acaecido, estando muy embebidas en oración de quietud y sueño espiritual, que algunas son tan flacas de complexión o imaginación, o no sé la causa, que verdaderamente en este gran recogimiento están tan fuera de sí, que no se sienten en lo exterior, y están tan adormecidos todos los sentidos, que como una persona que duerme, y aun quizá es así que están adormizidas, como manera de sueño les parece que las hablan y aun que ven cosas, y piensan que es de Dios, y dejan los efectos en fin como de sueño. Y también podría ser pidiendo una cosa a nuestro Señor afectuosamente, parecerles que le dicen lo que quieren, y esto acaece algunas veces. Mas a quien tuviere mucha experiencia de las hablas de Dios, no se podrá engañar en esto -a mi parecer- de la imaginación.

11. Del demonio hay más que temer. Mas si hay las señales que quedan dichas, mucho se puede asegurar ser de Dios, aunque no de manera que si es cosa grave lo que se le dice y que se ha de poner por obra de sí o de negocios de terceras personas, jamás haga nada, ni le pase por pensamiento, sin parecer de confesor letrado y avisado y siervo de Dios, aunque más y más entienda y le parezca claro ser de Dios; porque esto quiere Su Majestad, y no es dejar de hacer lo que El manda, pues nos tiene dicho tengamos al confesor en su lugar, adonde no se puede dudar ser palabras suyas; y éstas ayudan a dar ánimo, si es negocio dificultoso, y nuestro Señor le pondrá al confesor y le hará crea es espíritu suyo, cuando El lo quisiere; y si no, no están más obligados. Y hacer otra cosa sino lo dicho y seguirse nadie por su parecer en esto, téngolo por cosa muy peligrosa; y así, hermanas, os amonesto de parte de nuestro Señor que jamás os acaezca.

12. Otra manera hay como habla el Señor al alma, que yo tengo para mí ser muy cierto de su parte, con alguna visión intelectual, que adelante diré cómo es. Es tan en lo íntimo del alma, y parécele tan claro oír aquellas palabras con los oídos del alma al mismo Señor y tan en secreto, que la misma manera del entenderlas, con las operaciones que hace la misma visión, asegura y da certidumbre no poder el demonio tener parte allí. Deja grandes efectos para creer esto; al menos hay seguridad de que no procede de la imaginación; y también, si hay advertencia, la puede siempre tener de esto, por estas razones: la primera, porque debe ser diferente en la claridad de la habla, que lo es tan clara, que una sílaba que falte de lo que entendió, se acuerda, y si se dijo por un estilo o por otro, aunque sea todo una sentencia; y en lo que se antoja por la imaginación, será no habla tan clara ni palabras tan distintas, sino como cosa mediosoñada.

13. La segunda, porque acá no se pensaba muchas veces en lo que se entendió -digo que es a deshora y aun algunas estando en conversación-, aunque hartas se responde a lo que pasa de presto por el pensamiento o a lo que antes se ha pensado; mas muchas es en cosas que jamás tuvo acuerdo de que habían de ser ni serían, y así no las podía haber fabricado la imaginación para que el alma se engañase en antojársele lo que no había deseado ni querido ni venido a su noticia.

14. La tercera, porque lo uno es como quien oye, y lo de la imaginación es como quien va componiendo lo que él mismo quiere que le digan, poco a poco.

15. La cuarta, porque las palabras son muy diferentes, y con una se comprende mucho, lo que nuestro entendimiento no podría componer tan de presto.

16. La quinta, porque junto con las palabras muchas veces, por un modo que yo no sabré decir, se da a entender mucho más de lo que ellas suenan sin palabras. En este modo de entender hablaré en otra parte más, que es cosa muy delicada y para alabar a nuestro Señor. Porque en esta manera y diferencias ha habido personas muy dudosas en especial alguna por quien ha pasado y así habrá otras) que no acababan de entenderse; y así sé que lo ha mirado con mucha advertencia, porque han sido muy muchas veces las que el Señor le hace esta merced, y la mayor duda que tenía era en esto si se le antojaba, a los principios; que el ser demonio más presto se puede entender, aunque son tantas sus sutilezas, que sabe bien contrahacer el espíritu de luz; mas será -a mi parecer- en las palabras, decirlas muy claras, que tampoco quede duda si se entendieron como en el espíritu de verdad; mas no podrá contrahacer los efectos que quedan dichos, ni dejar esa paz en el alma, ni luz; antes inquietud y alboroto. Mas puede hacer poco daño o ninguno, si el alma es humilde y hace lo que he dicho, de no se mover a hacer nada por cosa que entienda.

17. Si son favores y regalos del Señor, mire con atención si por ello se tiene por mejor; y si mientras mayor palabra de regalo, no quedare más confundida, crea que no es espíritu de Dios. Porque es cosa muy cierta que, cuando lo es, mientras mayor merced le hace, muy más en menos se tiene la misma alma y más acuerdo trae de sus pecados y más olvidada de su ganancia y más empleada su voluntad y memoria en querer sólo la honra de Dios, ni acordarse de su propio provecho, y con más temor anda de torcer en ninguna cosa su voluntad, y con mayor certidumbre de que nunca mereció aquellas mercedes, sino el infierno. Como hagan estos efectos todas las cosas y mercedes que tuviere en la oración, no ande el alma espantada, sino confiada en la misericordia del Señor, que es fiel y no dejará al demonio que la engañe, aunque siempre es bien se ande con temor.

18. Podrá ser que a las que no lleva el Señor por este camino les parezca que podrían estas almas no escuchar estas palabras que les dicen y, si son interiores, distraerse de manera que no se admitan, y con esto andarán sin estos peligros. A esto respondo que es imposible. No hablo de las que se les antoja, que con no estar tanto apeteciendo alguna cosa ni queriendo hacer caso de las imaginaciones, tienen remedio. Acá ninguno; porque de tal manera el mismo Espíritu que habla hace parar todos los otros pensamientos y advertir a lo que se dice, que en alguna manera me parece, y creo es así, que sería más posible no entender a una persona que hablase muy a voces a otra que oyese muy bien; porque podría no advertir, y poner el pensamiento y entendimiento en otra cosa; mas en lo que tratamos no se puede hacer: no hay oídos que se tapar, ni poder para pensar sino en lo que se le dice, en ninguna manera; porque el que pudo hacer parar el sol -por petición de Josué creo era- puede hacer parar las potencias y todo el interior de manera que ve bien el alma que otro mayor Señor gobierna aquel castillo que ella, y hácela harta devoción y humildad. Así que en excusarlo no hay remedio ninguno. Dénosle la divina Majestad, para que sólo pongamos los ojos en contentarle y nos olvidemos de nosotros mismos, como he dicho, amén. Plega a El que haya acertado a dar a entender lo que en esto he pretendido y que sea de algún aviso para quien lo tuviere.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩hablas: Teresa's mystical locutions—words addressed to the soul; rendered as 'words spoken to the soul' rather than the technical term 'locutions' for register clarity.
  2. 2 ↩antojo: whim/fancy of the imagination, not deliberate desire; 'mere fancy' keeps Teresa's warning against mistaking self-generated impressions for divine speech.
  3. 3 ↩"humor" here is the early-modern humoral sense (temperament / melancholy humor), not "sense of humor."
  4. 4 ↩"no es la sustancia para servir a Dios" rendered as "isn't what really matters for serving God"; Teresa means these experiences are not the substance/essential of serving God.
  5. 5 ↩"quitarle la oración" rendered as withdrawing prayer from her (curtailing the prayer that feeds these experiences), following the prior counsel on melancholic/sick souls; not as abandoning prayer as such.
  6. 6 ↩"deshacérsele": dismantle/dismiss the experience for her—discourage and dissolve her attachment to it—rather than violently crush the soul.
  7. 7 ↩Spanish regalo here is Teresa's term for a spiritual favor or consoling gift, not an ordinary present; rendered as "gift of consolation."
  8. 8 ↩Normalized sí in "y sí quitarán" read as affirmative "yes/indeed they will," not a reflexive.
  9. 9 ↩poderío y señorío rendered as power and authority; señorío also carries dominion/lordship.
  10. 10 ↩sin ninguna: ninguna elliptically refers to pena (distress); rendered as without any distress.
  11. 11 ↩entiende, que se sosiegue is elliptical for perceiving a locution that bids her be calm; rendered from chapter context of hablas.
  12. 12 ↩Source punctuation is uneven (closing parenthesis without a clear opener), and the grammar shifts from singular 'una palabra' to plural 'tienen'. Translated the intended sense: even a messenger's word has great force; how much greater, then, when left in a soul bound to God by love.
  13. 13 ↩Spanish 'operaciones y certidumbre que al presente quedan de ser Dios es ya pasado' is dense: rendered as the present-tense spiritual effects and certainty of divine origin having already become past experience, which then opens room for later doubts.
  14. 14 ↩'Ninguna de éstas' most naturally points back to the doubts just named (whether it was the devil or imagination); at the living moment of the locution, none of those doubts remain.
  15. 15 ↩Source has a closing parenthesis after 'cosas' but no matching opening mark; reading as the parenthetical '(digo los confesores...)' clarifying who calls the words nonsense.
  16. 16 ↩"como si ella en esto pudiese más" names the paradox that the soul feels charged with the truth of words she did not invent, though she only repeats what was spoken to her.
  17. 17 ↩oración de quietud and sueño espiritual are kept as Teresa's technical terms for contemplative states; recogimiento rendered as deep recollection.
  18. 18 ↩hablas de Dios rendered as God's speaking (Teresian locutions); kept concrete rather than the more technical 'locutions' alone.
  19. 19 ↩Su Majestad is Teresa's habitual title for God; kept as His Majesty. Éstas is taken as the divine locutions/words already under discussion.
  20. 20 ↩"oídos del alma" rendered as "the soul's own ears": Teresa's standard metaphor for interior locution, not bodily hearing.
  21. 21 ↩"advertencia" rendered as attentiveness/alert notice: if the soul pays attention, it can always keep this assurance for the reasons that follow.
  22. 22 ↩"mediosoñada" rendered as "half-dreamed": Teresa's contrast between distinct divine speech and vague imaginative fancy.
  23. 23 ↩Normalized Spanish has a lone closing parenthesis after "otras)"; rendered as a parenthetical aside around "especially someone who has gone through it, and so there will be others."
  24. 24 ↩"contrahacer el espíritu de luz" kept as "counterfeit the spirit of light" (demonic imitation of divine illumination), distinct from the later "espíritu de verdad" / "spirit of truth."
  25. 25 ↩"las que se les antoja" refers to spurious or fancy-born words/locutions, contrasted with genuine interior speech from God in the next sentence.
  26. 26 ↩"potencias" rendered as "faculties" in Teresa's sense (the soul's powers of memory, understanding, and will).
  27. 27 ↩"excusarlo" rendered as refusing/avoiding the locution; the sense is that there is no way to excuse oneself from receiving it.

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