← [[session-02-f1b|Session 2: Loss of Original Home — Carmel in the West]] | [[formation-I-b-handbook|Table of Contents]] | [[session-04-f1b|Session 4: The New Monastery of the Glorious St. Joseph]] → # Session 3: Reform of St. Teresa of Ávila “This dark, loving knowledge is the surrender of the soul through the will to the loving approach of the still-concealed God: love, which is not feeling, but rather a readiness for action and sacrifice …” — St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Required Reading: The Book of Her Life, chapters 32-35 Additional Reading: Excerpts from The Collected Letters of St Teresa of Avila: Volume One: Letter 2 (Letter to her brother, Don Lorenzo de Cepeda concerning her first foundation) (Appendix B) and Letter 3 (To the Lords of the town council of Avila. This letter speaks of the consolation the sisters find in their hermitages.) (Appendix C) In Context: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Their World, chapter 6. The Monastery of the Incarnation. (Appendix D) Essential Points to Discuss: • Referring to the papal bull of Pope Eugene IV and his further modification of the Rule of St Albert – “…the rule was not kept in its prime rigor, but was observed the way it was in the whole order, that is, according to the bull of mitigation” (32:9). • “One day after Communion, His Majesty earnestly commanded me to strive for this new monastery with all my powers, and He made great promises that it would be founded and that He would be highly served in it” (32:11). • There was so much talk and outcry at the Monastery of the Incarnation that the provincial changed his mind and didn’t want to accept the foundation under his jurisdiction (see 32:15). “I was very much disliked throughout my monastery because I had wanted to found a more enclosed monastery” (33:2). • “One day, while I was greatly troubled with the thought that my confessor didn’t believe me, the Lord told me not to be anxious, that the affliction would soon end” (33:8). • “My Confessor gave me permission again to dedicate myself entirely to this foundation. I saw clearly the toil it would bring upon me since I was very much alone and had hardly any means. We [St Teresa and her companions] agreed to carry on in total secrecy...” (33:11). • “My Lord, how is it You command things that seem impossible?” (33:11). Side Notes - Reasons for Reform: 1\. A central and important part of the community’s common prayer was prayer for deceased donors and their families. It provided an important source of income. But at the same time, it provided an overlay of prayers and devotions that could require a great deal of time beyond the communal and personal prayer of the nuns. In her reform, Teresa wanted none of this kind of entanglement with the wealthy, nor added layers of required prayers. 10 2\. What concerned Teresa especially was the concern for personal honor based on class distinction, so rampant in society at the time, which remained prominent in the monastery. Teresa would react strongly by eliminating all titles in the monasteries of the Reform and mandating a spirit of egalitarianism. 3\. The nuns took a vow of obedience to the Carmelite general, the prioress, and their successors. There was no formal vow of poverty. 4\. The spirit of enclosure – so essential for a life of tranquility, silence, and contemplation – likewise suffered. All of this was bound to undermine the broader sense of observance and spirit of recollection in the monastery. Assigned Meditative Reading: • Psalm 1 - Meditate day and night • Romans 8:24-27 – “For in hope we were saved…” • Romans 12:1-2 – “Do not conform yourself to this age…” • 1 Chronicles 22: 17-19 – “Is not the Lord your God with you?” --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation I Year B: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life* (US National Formation Program, 2024).