Saint Teresa of Avila Quotes
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Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love.
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Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.
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To have courage for whatever comes in life - everything lies in that.
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For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.
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Be gentle to all and stern with yourself.
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If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.
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Don't let your sins turn into bad habits.
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There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers.
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The devil put before me that I could not endure the trials of the religious life, because of my delicate nurture. I defended myself against him by alleging the trials which Christ endured, and that it was not much for me to suffer something for His sake; besides, He would help me to bear it.
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To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.
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If I should say anything that is not in conformity with what is held by the Holy Roman Catholic Church, it will be through ignorance and not through malice. This may be taken as certain, and also that, through God's goodness, I am, and shall always be, as I always have been, subject to her.
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Pain is never permanent.
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All things must come to the soul from its roots, from where it is planted.
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I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.
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Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.
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I am more afraid of those who are terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.
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May God protect me from gloomy saints.
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We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.
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If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend.
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Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart.
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Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.
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What friends or kindred can be so close and intimate as the powers of our soul, which, whether we will or no, must ever bear us company?
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What value is there in faith without works? And what are they worth if they are not united to the merits of Jesus Christ, our only good?
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My good works, however wretched and imperfect, have been made better and perfected by Him Who is my Lord: He has rendered them meritorious. As to my evil deeds and my sins, He hid them at once. The eyes of those who saw them, He made even blind; and He has blotted them out of their memory.