← [[appendix-a-f1b|Excerpt from The Hidden Life — Edith Stein]] | [[formation-I-b-handbook|Table of Contents]] | [[appendix-c-f1b|Letter 3 — St. Teresa of Ávila]] → # Letter 2 — St. Teresa of Ávila Copyright Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, Inc. ICS Publications, 2001. Used with permission. 3\. To the Lords of the Town Council, Avila Avila, 5 December 1563 This letter speaks of the consolation the sisters find in their hermitages, places of solitude in their garden where they can praise God and pray for the city. A lawsuit was initiated against the nuns because one of the hermitages was constructed at a site harmful to the city’s water supply. ***** Most Honorable Lords: 1\. Since we received information that the little hermitages constructed on our property would cause no damage to the city’s water ways, and the need was very great, we never thought your honors would be disturbed. What we did only serves for God’s praise and provides us with a place apart for prayer, for it is in these hermitages that we beg God in a special way to preserve this city in his service. 2\. Aware that your honors are displeased—which distresses us all—we beg you to come and see. We are prepared to comply with all the documents, promises, and pledges your lawyers might require so as to be sure that no damage will be done at any time; and we have always resolved to act in this way. 3\. If despite this your honors are not satisfied and want the hermitages removed, may you first consider the benefit and not the harm that may come from them. What we want most to avoid is that you be displeased. We would be distressed if we had to go without the consolation we find in them, for it is spiritual. 4\. May our Lord keep and preserve you, most honorable gentlemen, in his service, amen. Your unworthy servants who respectfully kiss your hands, The poor sisters of San José --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation I Year B: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life* (US National Formation Program, 2024).