St. Teresa of Avila on Venial Sin

"St. Teresa in Ecstasy"  Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 - 1680)

In case you thought one venial sin was not a big deal, consider what St. Teresa of Avila, mystic and Doctor of the Church, wrote on that subject:

May it please His Majesty that we fear Him whom we ought to fear, and understand that one venial sin can do us more harm than all hell together; for that is the truth.  The evil spirits keep us in terror, because we expose ourselves to the assaults of terror by our attachments to honours, possessions, and pleasures.  For the the evil spirits, uniting themselves with us, - we become our own enemies when we love and seek what we ought to hate, - do us great harm. We ourselves put weapons into their hands, that they may assail us; those very weapons with which we should defend ourselves,  It is a great pity.  But if, for the love of God we hated all this, and embraced the cross, and set about His service in earnest, Satan would fly away before such realities, as from the plague,  He is the friend of lies, and a lie himself.  He will have nothing to do with those who walk in the truth.  When he sees the understanding of any one obscured he simply helps to pluck out his eyes; if he sees any one already blind, seeking peace in vanities, - for all the things of this world are so utterly vanity, that they seem to be but the playthings of a child, - he sees at once that such a one is a child, and ventures to wrestle him - not once but often.

from "The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila," by herself

If only bishops spoke like this

"St. Teresa of Avila" Francois Gerard (1770−1837)

From "The Life of Saint Teresa," by the saint herself:

I look upon it as a most certain truth, that the devil will never deceive, and that God will not suffer him to deceive, the soul which has no confidence whatever in itself; which is strong in faith, and resolved to undergo a thousand deaths for any one article of the creed; which in its love of the faith, infused of God once for all,  - a faith living and strong, - always labours, seeking for further light on this side and on that, to mould itself on the teaching of the Church, as one already deeply grounded in the truth.  No imaginable revelations, not even if it saw the heavens open, could make that soul swerve in any degree from the doctrine of the Church.  

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

Unfortunately there are no questions about chapels

Blessed Duns Scotus, pray for us

In 2010, Pew Forum tested Americans' knowledge of religion.  Atheists got the highest grades, Catholics got the lowest.   Most Catholics even got the basic Catholic questions wrong.   You can take the Pew Forum test here.

A religion professor recently published a book on American religious illiteracy, and naturally, the professor has a quiz too, which you can take here.

Of course, you don't need to pass a multiple choice test to become a saint.  On the other hand, there's never been a saint so ignorant of the Faith that they couldn't name the seven sacraments, and didn't know what takes place at Mass.  Knowing those kinds of things has generally been considered the easy part about being Catholic.

If you are not a religious know it all but would like to become one, a good way to achieve this goal is by meandering through the Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan of the Servant of God, Fr. John Hardon, SJ.   A list of the works included in Fr. Hardon's Reading Plan is here.   There are a lot of books in the plan; Fr. Hardon allowed for unusually long lifespans. 

On her deathbed, St. Teresa of Avila, the great mystic and doctor of the Church, joyfully exclaimed again and again "I am a child of Holy Church, a child of Holy Church!"  It is indeed a great gift from God to be a child of Holy Church.  As St. Alphonsus Liguori notes, "He hath not done in like manner to every nation." (Ps. 147:20)  The reason for St. Teresa's joy can certainly be found in the books included in Fr. Hardon's reading plan.  Heck, St. Teresa wrote three of them herself.

" A Fervent Thanksgiving"

St. Teresa of Avila

St. Alphonsus Liguori advises that "to reap more abundant fruit from Communion, we should make a fervent thanksgiving."  In support, St. Alphonsus cites St. Teresa of Avila:  

"After Communion let us be careful not to lose so good an opportunity of negotiating with God.  His Divine majesty is not accustomed to pay badly for His lodging, if He meets with a good reception." [Way of Perfection, ch. 35.]

St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us.

Hail, John, Reformer, Mystic and Doctor of the Church

 St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. John of the Cross (1542 AD – 1591 AD).  St. John assisted St. Teresa of Avila in founding the Discalced Carmelites, a reform of the Carmelite Order which returned to the Carmelites' original, severe observance.   "Discalced" means shoeless, and though the Discalced Carmelites do go without shoes, they are not unshod, as they are permitted to wear sandals.  For this service to the Church, St. John suffered imprisonment and other harsh treatment from his fellow Carmelites.  However, the experience of imprisonment was fruitful for St. John of the Cross, as it inspired the composition of his mystical masterpieces "The Ascent of Mount Carmel" and "The Dark Night of the Soul."

Here is a short extract from "The Dark Night of the Soul":

"THIS night, which, as we say, is contemplation, produces in spiritual persons two kinds of darkness or purgation, corresponding to the two parts of man’s nature—namely, the sensual and the spiritual. And thus the one night or purgation will be sensual, wherein the soul is purged according to sense, which is subdued to the spirit; and the other is a night or purgation which is spiritual, wherein the soul is purged and stripped according to the spirit, and subdued and made ready for the union of love with God. The night of sense is common and comes to many: these are the beginners; and of this night we shall speak first. The night of the spirit is the portion of very few, and these are they that are already practised and proficient, of whom we shall treat hereafter."

St. John of the Cross, pray for us

Saintly Thought for Today

                          "Communion of St. Teresa of Avila" by Claudio Coello


A thought regarding Patience, from St. Alphonsus Liguori's "The Glories of Mary:"

Saint Teresa's instructions on this subject are beautiful. She used to say, '' Those who
embrace the cross, do not feel it ; ' and elsewhere, ' that if we resolve to suffer, the pain ceases.'