We were discussing St Teresa of Avilla and especially in the context of a picture of the statue of Teresa in ecstasy by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini this weekend, so since she is on my mind as well, I will chose something from her writings:
It is no small pity, and should cause us no little shame that through our own fault, we do not understand ourselves, or know who we are. Would it not be a sign of great ignorance, my daughters, if a person were asked who he was, and could not say, and had no idea who his father or his mother was or from what country he came? Though that is great stupidity, our won is incomparably greater if we make no attempt to discover what we are, and only know that we are living in these bodies, and have a vague idea, because we have heard it and because our Faith tells us so, that we bosess souls. As to what good qualities there may be in our souls, or Who dwells within them , or how precious they are -- those are things which we seldom consider and so we trouble little about carefully preserving the soul's beauty. All our interest is centered in the rough setting of the diamond, and in the outer wall of the castle -- that is to say, in these bodies of ours. -- Interior Castles , First Mansion
Pax
1 comment:
She was/is something..I mean those words..she doesn't mince them, does she? She's so right too.
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