Jesus be with your reverence, my daughter. It was most consoling to know that the house is so cool and that you will not have to suffer as you did a year ago. It would be a real delight for me, if it pleased God, to spend some days down there with you. I would have fewer letters and business matters to attend to and be near the little ducks and the water, which must make you feel like hermits. I don’t deserve this, but I am very happy that you can enjoy it for me.
You should know that I never thought I loved you so much, for I have a great desire to see you. Perhaps God will so ordain. I pray very much for you and have the satisfaction of knowing that he will assist you in everything. I have no worries about your helping those souls to attain a high perfection. But you must realize you cannot treat all the nuns alike. That sister to whom our padre [Jerónimo Gracián] gave the habit [Francisca de la Madre de Dios Sahojosa] should be treated like someone who is sick; no demands should be made of her that require much perfection. It’s enough that she does the best she can, as they say, and avoids offending God.
Saint Teresa of Avila
Letter 200 to Madre Ana de San Alberto (excerpts)
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.
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