Quote of the day, 31 January: St. Teresa of Avila

Now let us talk about the detachment we ought to have, for detachment, if it is practiced with perfection, includes everything. I say it includes everything because if we embrace the Creator and care not at all for the whole of creation, His Majesty will infuse the virtues. Doing little by little what we can, we will have hardly anything else to fight against; it is the Lord who in our defense takes up the battle against the demons and against the world.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection: Chapter 8, no. 1

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: In the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), Jesus casts out an unclean spirit from a man in the synagogue at Capernaum while he was teaching. This striking image of the event was captured in watercolor by famed 19th century French artist James Tissot for his series The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Brooklyn Museum, New York hold many of these works in its collection.