St. Teresa of Avila was a mystic, a counter-reformer, and co-founder of the Discalced Carmelites. She was made Doctor of Church and was the patroness of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and and illustrious writer. If you need a good kick, her writings will do it. Here are nine of her most epic quotes.
“We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding his greatness, we realize our own littleness; his purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon his humility we find how very far we are from being humble.”
Pretty self-explanatory. He is big, we are little; He is everything, we are nothing. But in Him, we find ourselves and find everything.
“Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one.”
Basically, memento mori. We’re all gonna die, so we’d better make good use of the time we have.
“Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough.”
This is one of her most popular quotes and for good reason! God is everything and in him, we are satisfied and have nothing to fear.
“We need no wings to go in search of him, but have only to look upon him present within us.”
She’s reminding us that God dwells within us. We don’t need to be big or great or do big or great things, but only look to the humility of ourselves and we will find him. Just like in ultimate humility, he comes to us under the form of bread in the Eucharist, so he dwells within us. He is our very existence.
“There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God’s.”
What a great reminder when we want to complain! Fire and heat, bless the Lord. Cold and chill, bless the Lord!
“God, deliver me from sullen saints.”
I literally LOL at this one every time I read it. It’s really true! How many of the saints went to their deaths singing? The joy of the Lord is our strength and we should act like it!
“There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.”
Take that, academics.
“I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.”
We should not fear Satan, not one ounce. Because Christ has already defeated him and already paid the price and we are given that grace to live in this knowledge and truth. In the sacrament of Reconciliation, we are given the grace to sin no more and so we really have no reason to fear Satan! He only has the power over us which we give him, so don’t give him any!
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can, namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.”
Again, pretty self-explanatory, but a good kick in the butt to always surrender and re-surrender ourselves to God day after day, minute after minute.
