Novena to Saint Teresa of Ávila

Conteúdo ocultar

1 First Day

2 Second Day

First Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, glory of the Church and of Carmel, who taught the great science of prayer, stay with us every day of this novena that we make in your praise. Teach us the path of prayer, of intimacy with God. Help us to practice virtues, answer the requests we make, with all confidence, for the Holy Church, for our families, for all humanity and we confidently thank you for your protection.

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: Starting with determination.

Life is not only an earthly adventure, but also a spiritual adventure, it is certainly a search, which is why Saint Teresa of Jesus exhorts us to begin with determination, we must boldly aspire to the sublime, “for many remain at the foot of the mountain, being that could rise to the top.” Starting well requires effort, initially with difficulties and resistance, but over time the barriers will soon be overcome by the enthusiasm of the search for the Beloved. The essential thing, as Teresa points out, is to persevere until the end of the journey, with courage and vigilance so as not to go back, it is this initial determination that helps to continue. Confident in the mercy of God, who sustains us when we fall. Let’s get on our way… “I say that it is very important, above all, to have a great and very determined determination not to stop until you reach the goal, whatever arises, whatever happens, whatever you suffer, whatever you suffer, murmur who murmur, even if one does not have the strength to continue, even if one dies on the way or cannot bear the suffering that one encounters, even if the world falls apart.” (Path of Perfection 21.2)

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

O God, who by the Holy Spirit gave rise to Saint Teresa, to remind the Church of the path to perfection, grant that we may always find nourishment in her heavenly doctrine and feel within us the desire for true holiness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Second Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: Prayer, a bouquet of flowers.

Prayer cannot be tiring work or an artificial effort of concentration, but must naturally sprout from the heart like a flower that slowly blooms in the warmth of the sun’s rays. Saint Teresa develops her prayer in this intimacy of relationship with the Beloved, it is through prayer that the soul comes into contact with God and at the same time God comes into contact with the soul, communicating to it the graces of his mercy. In this process it is clear that prayer is the beginning of an adventure in the search for God that is not satisfied until the supreme encounter; path to the living water of contemplation, this encounter with God through prayer is a gradual process of interior grace interpenetrated by total surrender.

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Third Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: Silent Love

Love requires silence and solitude, as it is not possible to hear the Lord’s voice in the noise; silencing things is difficult, silencing yourself is even more difficult, however, it is not impossible, you just need to have a certain determination. Prayer constitutes an attitude of docility, made of loving silence in which the hearts of God and man merge, creating a mysterious union. Even though we are always in prayer, a moment is necessary to unite with the Beloved, because , the greater the love, the greater the fidelity in meeting the person you love. Teresa of Jesus, with her experience, teaches us what prayer consists of and how we must remain calm in the face of the difficulties we encounter on the journey towards the Beloved.

“I just want you to be aware of this: to benefit from this path and climb to the addresses we desire, the important thing is not to think too much, but to love a lot. And so you must do whatever awakens your love most. It is possible that we do not know what it is to love; This would not surprise me very much, because love is not in the greatest taste, but in the greatest determination to desire to please God, to try, as far as possible, not to offend Him and to ask Him for the continuous increase of the honor and glory of His Son, as well as the prosperity of the Catholic Church. These are the signs of love, and don’t think that prayer consists of fixing your thoughts on one point, nor that everything will be lost if you get a little distracted.” (4 M 1.7)

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Fourth Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: Prayer, friendship.

Many people say they don’t know how to pray and want to learn; Saint Teresa is a teacher of prayer life, she teaches us to pray with our lives through contact with our Lord, and she taught this particular way of praying to the Carmelite communities. Its novelty lies in recognizing that God himself dwells in us, lives within us and wants us to spend our lives in his company. When on the outside we are worried about riches, luxuries, pleasures and discord inside, God is forgotten. Man, made in the image and likeness of God, is very beautiful and great, which is why Teresa compares him to a castle made from a single crystal; in the center is the sun, which is God, this makes the crystal become resplendent, reflecting its light, praying with Teresa is being with God in a loving presence and bringing him to life and letting the crystal shine by the sun. This discovery of a God so close leads Teresa to begin a life of friendship with the Beloved. We must be in the presence of God as we are in the presence of a friend in which we want to be with him and talk about our intimacies.

Have you ever thought about meeting this God within you and maintaining a friendly relationship with him?

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Fifth Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: The soul, garden and garden of God

Saint Teresa does not mention an ordinary method for praying, however, she does not fail to point out practical and known comparisons to attract and give holy occupation to the imagination and memory, which become magnificent collaborators in prayer. The Saint uses the comparison of paradise, garden and vegetable garden a lot to teach the path of prayer; the soul sees itself as God’s garden and the garden of God’s delights; In this dynamic, the soul focuses on God, who is taking care of the garden, filling it with flowers and fruits, so that it can walk joyfully in this loving garden. God is the gardener and he delights in taking care of his garden and joys the soul that becomes paradise.

The soul that hungers and thirsts for prayer feels joy and joy when recognizing that God cares for it intimately and will beautify it until it becomes paradise, in a union of love with the Beloved; This process is possible because God walks delightfully in the soul through prayer. The soul rejoices when it understands that the Beloved is with it in solitude, looking at its virtues and its desires to find Him within itself, this is the true heaven of the soul on earth.

“Whoever begins must take special care, as if someone were to plant a garden, for the pleasure of the Lord, on very unproductive land, with many weeds. His Majesty pulls out the weeds and plants the good ones. Let us pretend that this has already begun when a soul dedicates itself to prayer and begins to exercise itself in it. With God’s help, we must try, like good gardeners, for these plants to grow, taking care to water them so that they do not get lost and they come to produce flowers, whose pleasant perfume delights our Lord, so that He may come to often delight in our garden and enjoy these virtues.” (Life 11.6)

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Sixth Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: In the Hands of God

Let’s let the Saint speak to us through this poetry. Because, through it we can enter into intimacy with God, poetry is a way that the soul finds to be able to express itself to its Beloved, it speaks of truths that often cannot be expressed clearly, the beauty of poetry is opening up to the possibilities of different interpretations, adapting to the state in which the soul finds itself.

Let us pray with this poem that is a prayer:

Finally, give ourselves completely, so that we can give our life (our story) to the Lord, just like Saint Teresa did. Without reservations, we give our lives to the Beloved. What do you want Lord to do with me?

Let us place our lives in the hands of the Lord.

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Seventh Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: The mystery of suffering

Suffering is a mysterious and inevitable part of life, it affects us from the outside and from the inside, from deep within. We suffer because of illness, fatigue, emotional disturbances, worries, anxieties, misunderstandings, etc. Many times, faced with these daily sufferings, we ask ourselves: Did the Saints go through these sufferings? When we read Saint Teresa we discover a life of enormous suffering, when she talks to us about prayer she tells us about her experience, the pain and fear, which disturbed her in moments of prayer, however, the saint fought against her own thoughts with the aim of focus.

In our prayer life we encounter the same difficulties, which are causes of suffering, but which help us to become aware of our humanity. Let us ask Saint Teresa on this day to intercede for us with God, so that we may be able to humbly walk this journey to meet the Beloved, enduring all the difficulties and obstacles that may be on the way.

“O Lord of the world, true Husband of mine… you are so needy. My Lord and my Good, why do you want to admit poor company like mine? Am I seeing in Your countenance that You consoled Me? Well, how. Lord, is it possible that the angels leave You alone and that not even Your Father consoles You? If it is so, Lord, that all this you want to go through me, what is this that I go through for You. What do I complain about? I am already ashamed of having seen him like this and I wish, Lord, to go through all the trials that affect me and to have them as a great benefit to imitate him in something. Let us march together, Lord; wherever you go, I will have to go; wherever you pass, I will have to pass” (Path of Perfection 26,6).

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Eighth Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: Walking with joy

Saint Teresa of Jesus had many virtues and, among them, joy and good humor stood out. A saint endowed with true natural graces such as joviality, spontaneity, cordiality, affability and wisdom. The life of prayer must be closely linked to joy, because for the Saint, both prayer and recreation are important. Teresian joy is not just an emotion, but fundamentally it is a state. It is the ability to understand and live life in the fullness of our humanity, finding joy in life’s problems.

“Be happy, serving in what is commanded you, as I said, and if your humility is true, happy are you who serve in active life, for you will only murmur within yourselves. Leave the others to their war, which is not small; because, although the lieutenant does not fight in battles, he is still in great danger and, in his heart, he must fight more than anyone else, since, carrying the standard, he cannot defend himself and, even if they tear him to pieces , you can’t let go of it.

Thus, contemplatives must carry the flag of humility high and suffer all blows without taking any; because their job is to suffer like Christ, to lift the cross high, not to let it leave their hands no matter how many dangers they find themselves in; They must not show signs of weakness in suffering, because to bear it they have received this honorable office. They must watch what they are doing, because if they drop the flag, the battle is lost. Therefore, I believe it is very harmful for those who are not so advanced to see that, in those who they already consider captains and friends of God, the works do not correspond to the office they perform.” (Path of Perfection 18.5)

The Joy:
You must look for it with freedom, simplicity and spontaneity.
Joy lacks luxury and poise.
She is rested, serene, humble and grateful.
She is not envious and always focuses on the good.
She is austere, obedient, servant and suffering!
Rejoices and is satisfied with the good of others,
It is born from within the heart.
Joy is creative, imaginative and knows no fear.
It is stronger than death, like Love,
Joy is fullness, satisfaction of those who have God,
Because “Only God is Enough”.
(Eusebio Gómez Navarro)

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.

Ninth Day

Opening Prayer

Saint Teresa of Jesus, Master of love, prayer,
Show the path that leads to the Lord and Salvation.

Meditation: Deep humility

How vast is the role of humility! It frees you from so many petty and useless worries. How many souls are disturbed in the exercise of their occupations due to a lack of humility! Let us, therefore, be content once and for all with what we are! “Humility is truth,” says Saint Teresa. Humility must face battles, Teresa knows that pre-eminence and points of honor also find access among religious women. Not just among nuns! The Saint remembers that even wise men have their degrees of precedence, according to their erudition. Teresa also teaches her daughters to react with all their strength against the temptations of pride. It is necessary, therefore, to be convinced of this: Carmel is a school of asceticism. It requires the soul to practice the highest virtues!

“If you want to take revenge on the devil and free yourself more quickly from temptation, you must not only advance inwardly in humility… but, by your outward acts, ensure that your temptation reverts to the benefit of the sisters. So, when it attacks you, ask the prioress to order you to do some low office, any act of humility… study how to bend your will in the things that contradict you, and the Lord will discover it for you; in this way, the temptation will be short-lived.” (Path of Perfection 36, 7)

Final Prayer

Pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, a Glory Be to the Father…
Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us.