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The Pope's message for the 450th anniversary
of St. Teresa's convent for Carmelite sisters
in Avila and of the order's reform
Translated from
July 16, 2012
The following is the message sent by the Holy Father Benedict XVI to the Bishop of Avila (Spain), Mons. Jesús García Burillo, on the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Convent of San Jose in Avila and the start of the Carmelite reforms initiated by St. Teresa de Jesus.
To my Venerated Brother
Mons. Jesús GARCÍA BURILLO
Bishop of Avila
1. Resplendens stella. "A star that gives off such great splendor" (Libro de la Vida 32,11). With these words, the Lord encouraged Santa Teresa de Jesus to establish in Avila the Convent of San Jose, as the start of the reform of the Carmelite order, 450 years ago on August 24.
On the occasion of this happy event, I wish to share the joy of the beloved diocese of Avila, the Order of Discalced Carmelites, the People of God in Spain, d all those who, in the universal Church, have found in Teresian spirituality a sure light to discover that true renewal of one's life comes to man through Christ.
Enamoured of the Lord, this eminent woman yearned only to please him in everything. Indeed, a saint is not someone who realizes great feats based on the excellence of his human qualities, but someone who humbly allows Christ to penetrate his soul, act through his person - Christ being the true protagonist of all one's actions and desires, who inspires every initiative and sustains every silence.
2. To allow oneself to be led in this way by Christ is only possible for those who have an intense life of prayer. This consists, in the words of the saint of Avila, "of a state of friendship, being alone frequently with someone whom we know loves us" (Libro de la Vida 8,5).
The reform of the Carmelite order, whose anniversary fills us with internal joy, was born of prayer and is projected towards prayer. In promoting a return to the primitive Rule, away from what had become a mitigated Rule, Teresa de Jesus wished to create the conditions for a form of life that favored personal encounter with the Lord, for which it is necessary to "be in solitude and look within yourself, and not be surprised by receiving such a good guest!" (Camino de perfección 28,2). The Convent of San Jose was born precisely for the purpose of providing its daughters with the best conditions to find God and establish a profound and intimate relationship with him.
3. Santa Teresa proposed a new way of being a Carmelite in a world that was also new. Those were 'hard times'' (Libro de la Vida 33,5). in which, according to this Master of the spiritual, "strong friends of God are needed to sustain the weak" (ibíd. 15,5).
She insisted with eloquence: "The world is in flames, they want to judge Christ again, they want to bring down his Church to the ground. No, my sisters, this is not the time to talk top God about matters of little importance" (Camino de perfección 1,5). Does it not sound familiar to us, in the conjuncture at which we find ourselves, this luminous and interpellative reflection more than four centuries ago by this mystical saint?
The ultimate purpose of the Teresian reform and the creation of new convents amidst a world that was deficient in spiritual values, was to wrap apostolic commitment in prayer; to propose a way of evangelical life as a model for those who seek the way of perfection, with the conviction that all personal and ecclesial reform must pass through our desire to reproduce in ourselves, even better every time, the 'form' of Christ (cf Gal 4,19).
That and nothing else was the commitment of the saint and of her spiritual daughters. As it was of their brother Carmelites who sought only "to progress farther in all the virtues" (Libro de la Vida 31,18). In this respect, Teresa wrote: "Our Lord values more a soul who, through our industry and prayer, we gain for him through his mercy, than all the services that we could render" (Libro de las Fundaciones 1,7).
In a world where God was forgotten, the sainted Doctor encouraged praying communities [of contemplatives] who clothed with their fervent prayer those who proclaimed the Name of Christ wherever they could, who invoked the Lord for the needs of the Church, who brought the clamor of all people to the heart of the Lord.
4. Today, as in the 16th century, and amidst rapid transformations, it is necessary that dedicated prayer be the heart of apostolate, in order that the redeeming message of Christ may resound with meridian clarity and forceful dynamism. It is urgent that the Word of life vibrates in souls in a harmonious way, with sonorous and attractive notes.
In this exciting task, the example of Teresa de Avila is a great help to us. We can say that, in her time, the saint evangelized without tepidness, with an ardor that was never quenched, with methods that were a long way from inertia, with words that had a nimbus of light.
Her example conserves all its freshness even at the crossroads where we find ourselves, with the urgency that all who are baptized may renew their hearts through personal prayer, focused as the saint of Avila proposes, on the contemplation of the Most Sacred Humanity of Christ as the only way to find the glory of God (cf. Libro de la Vida 22,1; Las Moradas 6,7).
This is the way we can form authentic families who discover in the Gospel the fire for their hearth. Christian communities that are alive and united, with Christ as their keystone, with a thirst for a life of fraternal and generous service.
It is also to be hoped that unceasing invocation of the Lord may promote the priority cultivation of vocations to priesthood, specifically underscoring the beauty of consecrated life, which must be recognized as the treasure that it is for the Church, as a torrent of graces, both in its active as well as contemplative dimensions.
May the power of Christ also lead to doubling initiatives so that the People of God may recover their vigor in the only way possible: by making room within us for the sentiments of our Lord Jesus (cf. Phil 2,5), seeking in every circumstance to live the Gospel radically.
Which means, before everything else, to allow the Holy Spirit to make us friends with the Lord and configure us to him. It also means accepting all his mandates and adopting criteria like humility of conduct, renouncing the superfluous, not aggravating others, and behaving with simplicity and gentleness of heart.
This way, those around us will perceive the joy that comes from our adherence to the Lord, and that we put nothing ahead of his love, always being ready to give the reason for our hope (cf. 1Pt 3,15), living, as did Teresa de Jesus, in filial obedience to Holy Mother Church.
5. To that radicality and fidelity we are invited today by this most illustrious daughter of the Diocese of Avila. Accepting her beautiful legacy, at this hour in history, the Pope calls on all the members of your local Church in a manner that may draw young people to seriously take this common calling to holiness.
Following the footsteps of Teresa de Jesus, allow me to say to those who have their whole future before them: Aspire like her to belong totally to Jesus, only to Jesus and always to Jesus. Do not fear to tell our Lord as she did: "I am yours, I was born for you - what do you want me to do?" (Poesía 2).
I ask him that, illuminated by divine grace, you may know how to respond to his calls, with ]determined determination' in order to offer 'the little' that there is in you, confident that God never abandons those who leave everything for his glory (cf. Camino de perfección 21,2; 1,2).
6. Santa Teresa honored the Most Blessed Virgin with great devotion, invoking her under the sweet name of Carmel. To her maternal protection, I entrust the apostolic efforts of the Church in Avila, so that, made young again by the Holy Spirit, she may find the opportune ways to proclaim the Gospel with enthusiasm and courage.
May Mary, Star of Evangelization, and her chaste spouse, St, Joseph, intercede so that the 'star' that the Lord lit in the universe, the Church with its Teresian reform, may continue to radiate its great splendor of love and the truth of Christ to all men.
With this wish, Venerated Brother in the Episcopate, I send you this message which I ask you to make known to the flock entrusted to your pastoral efforts, and most especially, to the Discalced Carmelites of the Convent of San Jose in Avila who perpetuate in time the spirit of its founder, and for whose fervent prayers for the Successor of Peter I am always grateful.
To them, to you, and to all the faithful of Avila, I impart with affection the Apostolic Blessing as a token of copious celestial favors.
The Vatican
July 16, 2012
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 17/07/2012 16:04] |