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| 13-08-2010 |
| Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp |
| SAINT TERESA OF JESUS |
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I arrived in Peru in the distant year of 1968 as a medical missionary and priest for the Apurimac region where, even today, people live as in the Stone Age.
My task consisted not only of evangelizing the indigenous people whom I visited on horseback in their different villages, but also of bringing healing to the sick in their huts. You see, there were no doctors, hospitals or pharmacies in this region.
I frequently found among the sick, young people in their twenties who were practically at death’s door. They would be lying on the floor of their huts, without a mattress, on a simple sheep or llama skin. Their bodies were full of fetid wounds, burning with fever, and since they lacked any nourishment, they did not have enough strength even to lift themselves up.
In the first years of my missionary life it was a great consolation for me to read and reread the writings of our Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus. I was fascinated by the love this Saint had for the Indians of Peru. What immense emotion filled my heart when I read about the meeting between St. Teresa of Jesus and Fr. Alonso Maldonado. He had just returned from the Indies, and when visiting our Holy Mother in Avila, shared with her the sad fate of these Indians.
Fr. Maldonado had to be a man of great faith, a missionary who had understood that the Gospel and the Kingdom of God are spread, not by awesome deeds, but rather through humble people living in silence and suffering. In fact, he did not seek spiritual aid from the Monastery of the Incarnation where more than 150 nuns resided. Nor did he go to the Augustinian Monastery where there also lived over 100 nuns. No, he knocked at the doors of the house St. Teresa had founded, with less than 13 nuns at the beginning of the Teresian reform:
“A Franciscan friar happened to come to see me,” writes Teresa, “whose name was Fray Alonso Maldonado, a great servant to God, who had the same desires for the good of souls as I, but he was able to transfer them into deeds for which I envied him greatly. He had recently come back from the Indies. He began to tell me about the many millions of souls that were being lost there for want of Christian instruction, and before leaving he gave us a sermon, or conference, encouraging us to do penance. I was so grief-stricken over the loss of so many souls that I couldn’t contain myself. I went to a hermitage with many tears. I cried out to the Lord, begging Him that He give me the means to be able to do something to win some souls to His service” ( The Foundations, 1, no. 7, volume III of the Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila).
We know that this encounter between Teresa of Jesus and Fr. Alonso Maldonado was a decisive one for her. It did not merely affect the Teresian Reform, but above all, it gave a missionary ideal to the Monasteries of Discalced Carmelites, an Order that would eventually spread all over the world.
St. Teresa of Jesus is great not only for having founded the Discalced Carmelites, but also for having understood that holy priests and missionaries are necessary to ensure the spread of the Kingdom of God.
In her book, The Way of Perfection we read, “It seemed to me that I would have given a thousand lives to save one soul out of the many that were being lost there. I realized I was (…) incapable of doing any of the useful things I desired to do in the service of the Lord. All my longing was and still is that since He has so many enemies and so few friends that these few friends be good ones. As a result I resolved to do the little that was in my power; that is, to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could and strive that these few persons who live here do the same. I did this trusting in the great goodness of God, who never fails to help anyone who is determined to give up everything for Him (…) and I could thereby please the Lord in some way. Since we would all be occupied in prayer for those who are the defenders of the Church and for preachers and learned men who protect her from attack, we could help as much as possible this Lord of mine(…)” ( 1, no. 2, volume II of the Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila).
Further on she adds, “So that you understand, my Sisters, that what we must ask God is that in this little castle where there are already good Christians not one of us will go over to the enemy and that God will make the captains of this castle or city, who are the preachers and theologians, very advanced in the way of the Lord. Since most of them belong to religious orders, ask God that they advance very far in the perfection of religious life and their vocation; this is most necessary” (Ibid, 3, no. 2).
Those first years of missionary life were certainly not easy for me. They were, however, years filled with abundant graces since in the midst of sufferings, misunder-standings and calumnies, I found a Mother: St. Teresa of Jesus, Mother of missionaries. Since that time she has been a Mother, accompanying me always, protecting me with her maternal mantle.
It was thus that in the midst of torment I sought help from the Discalced Carmelites; and, thanks to their intercession, St. Teresa of Jesus has never failed to grant me her maternal protection.
It was very difficult for me to travel on horseback for long hours at a time only to arrive at the villages and find total desolation. In many of these villages, for example, in Kutuctay, there was no water. I mean not even water for washing one’s hands, let alone drinking water. In order to enter their adobe huts I often had to bend over double, so small were they. Here I would find the gravely ill, completely abandoned. Their silence pierced my heart.
While I traversed through those valleys and deserted places of the Cordillera, I seemed to hear the cry of Teresa of Jesus, “How much these Indians cost me!” Her cry penetrated the depths of my heart, engraving itself there forever. At the same time it helped me realize I could not abandon these poor people. I had to do something to relieve their sufferings. Thus it was that I joyfully discovered the encyclical Populorum Progressio by Paul VI. In it he invited all men of good will to work favorably on behalf of the poorest people:
“The hungry nations of the world cry out to the peoples blessed with abundance. And the Church, cut to the quick by this cry, asks each and every man to hear his brother’s plea and answer it lovingly” (no. 3).
“So today We earnestly urge all men to pool their ideas and their activities for man’s complete development and the development of all mankind” (no. 5).
“Let everyone implore God the Father Almighty that the human race, which is certainly aware of these evils, will bend every effort of mind and spirit to their eradication. To this prayer should be added the resolute commitment of every individual. Each should do as much as he can, as best as he can, to counteract the slow pace of progress in some nations. And it is to be hoped that individuals, social organizations and nations will join hands in brotherly fashion -the strong aiding the weak- all contributing their knowledge, their enthusiasm and their love to the task, without thinking of their own convenience.
“It is the person who is motivated by genuine love, more than anyone else, who pits his intelligence against the problems of poverty, trying to uncover the causes and looking for effective ways of combating and overcoming them. As a promoter of peace, ‘he goes on his way, holding aloft the torch of joy and shedding light and grace on the hearts of men all over the world; he helps them to cross the barriers of geographical frontiers, to acknowledge every man as a friend and brother’” (cf. John XXIII, address upon receiving the Balzan Peace Prize, May 10, 1963 (no. 75).
“We must travel this road together, united in minds and hearts. Hence We feel it necessary to remind everyone of the seriousness of this issue in all its dimensions, and to impress upon them the need for action. The moment for action has reached a critical juncture. Can countless innocent children be saved? Can countless destitute families obtain more human living conditions? Can world peace and human civilization be preserved intact? Every individual and every nation must face up to this issue, for it is their problem” (no. 80).
“Finally, a word to those of you who have heard the cries of needy nations and have come to their aid. We consider you the promoters and apostles of genuine progress and true development. Genuine progress does not consist in wealth sought for personal comfort or for its own sake; rather it consists in an economic order designed for the welfare of the human person, where the daily bread that each man receives reflects the glow of brotherly love and the helping hand of God” (no. 86).
“Knowing, as we all do, that development means peace these days, what man would not want to work for it with every ounce of his strength? No one, of course. So We beseech all of you to respond wholeheartedly to Our urgent plea, in the name of the Lord” (no. 87).
St. Teresa was converted while contemplating the statue of Christ being scourged at the pillar. What sadness invaded me when I saw cruel masters mercilessly flogging eight-year-old children along with their parents. They imitated the Roman soldiers who scourged Jesus. Strange as it may seem, even today these scourges and whips are sold in the marketplaces of Cuzco and Lima!
How can I forget the extraordinary grace Our Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus granted me during the Holy Year, on October 14, 1975, the vigil day of her Feast. Being Mother and Mistress of the spiritual life, I had asked her to obtain an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon me. How great was the grace! It gave me the strength to continue until now my long years of missionary life with happiness and serenity.
I linked the cry of Teresa of Jesus (“How much these Indians cost me!”) with the anguished plea of Pope Paul VI in his encyclical “Populorum Progressio”:
“ ‘If a brother or sister be naked and in want of daily food,’ says St. James, ‘and one of you say to them, “Go in peace, be warm and filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for the body, what does it profit?’(Jas 2:15-16). Today no one can be unaware of the fact that on some continents countless men and women are ravished by hunger and countless children are undernourished. Many children die at an early age; many more of them find their physical and mental growth retarded. Thus whole populations are immersed in pitiable circumstances and lose heart” (no. 45).
It was not easy for me to found the Movement of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World, but Teresa of Jesus has never failed to give me her protection.
In the distant year 1982 I had the immense joy of celebrating Holy Mass in the Carmelite Monastery of Alba de Tormes. Here her fresh and pulsating heart is still kept in a glass reliquary. After Mass, the Prioress of the Monastery allowed me to hold and venerate it in my own hands. Immediately and for some moments afterwards, I perceived a heavenly fragrance emanating from this heart, and it flooded my entire being. And it was not the only time I experienced this.
In one of her poems, with few words, Teresa of Jesus describes the greatness of God, “Let nothing trouble you, /Let nothing frighten you, / All things pass away / God never changes./ Patience obtains all things. /He Who possess God wants for nothing. / God alone suffices.”
How hard it was for me to find myself expelled from my own Order, in which I had grown; the Order I loved and still love. I was also denied my incardination by a Bishop of the same Order, and was prohibited from using the initials that formerly accompanied my signature. I really felt like a leper. In my first years of missionary life I had tended to lepers. Even now their sufferings remain in my heart: rejected by their family, homeless, and denied any home for fear of contagion. I thank the good God for permitting me the grace to share the sufferings of lepers.
Humanly speaking I felt myself tossed about by a great torment, as though cast off to an unknown, deserted island, and encompassed by a tremendous tempest. Thanks be to God, though, there resounded in my heart the calm echo of Teresa’s words: “Let nothing trouble you…”
Oftentimes above the threatening ocean waves a seagull can be seen dancing serenely, with elegant delicacy, playing with the wind, fearless of the waves. It hails the end of the storm. Teresa of Jesus was such for me. Through God’s infinite mercy, she made certain that I find numerous brothers and sisters. These have grown fond, not only of me, but of this Movement and of all the youth who have followed me in this adventure of service to the poorest people. These brothers and sisters support us by printing and distributing our circular and by organizing youth retreats. Through these retreats they help young people, who show signs of a vocation to our charism, come to know our Movement.
I cannot neglect to remember here the Abbeys of Our Lady of Fontgombault in France, of St. Benedict in Oporto, Portugal, of St. Benedict in Lujan, Argentina, of Santiago de Chile, and of Clear Creek in Oklahoma, USA; not to mention the support we receive from the Abbey of Solesmes and its daughter Abbeys.
Finding myself surrounded by torments and as though cast off to a deserted island, Teresa of Jesus made me understand the truth of what she wrote in her Way of Perfection, “Believe, Sisters, that if you serve His Majesty as you ought, you will not find better relatives than those He sends you. I know that this is so (…) Believe that you can trust those who love you only for His sake more than you can all your relatives, and that these former will not fail you. And you will find fathers and brothers in those about whom you had not even thought (Ibid, 9, no. 4).
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| 10-06-2010 |
| Meeting in God experience |
| MEETING IN GOD EXPERIENCE, Rudolf V. D'Souza OCD; Published by Dhyanavana Publications - Bangalore 2010, pp. 190; is a must read book during these years of preparation for the Birth Centenary of St. Teresa of Avila - 2015. |
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