Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection Saint Teresa of Avila

To speak of the merits of this work seems superfluous. It abounds in noble and sublime thoughts, heroic sentiments of love, praise, and gratitude to God, and is full of the most practical lessons of humility, obedience, poverty, and self-denial; &c. Her explanation of the Lord's Prayer is very admirable. The three first chapters are particularly interesting and valuable, as she there mentions the motives by which she was especially induced to compose the work. The style is everywhere simple and pure, yet always rich in illustrations. The interior life of the Saint is drawn to the very letter, in words which really seem to have been inspired. All the hidden secrets of "mental prayer," are communicated to us, in which the soul buries herself, and is consumed with burning transports of love; and though we are unable to understand all that the Saint says on this sublime subject, yet we cannot but rise up from the perusal of her words, better men than we were before, more determined to aim at perfection, and to implore the divine assistance and that of our glorious Saint for so important an object.