Teresa of Ávila - God Quotes

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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.

Teresa of Ávila

O my God, what must a soul be like when it is in this state! It longs to be all one tongue with which to praise the Lord. It utters a thousand pious follies, in a continuous endeavor to please Him who thus possesses it.

Teresa of Ávila

Do you know when people really become spiritual? It is when they become the slaves of God and are branded with His sign, which is the sign of the Cross, in token that they have given Him their freedom.

Teresa of Ávila

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.

Teresa of Ávila

From foolish devotions and sour-faced saints may God deliver us!

Teresa of Ávila

Let nothing disturb thee;
Let nothing dismay thee:
All thing pass;
God never changes.
Patience attains
All that it strives for.
He who has God
Finds he lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.

Teresa of Ávila

The saints rejoiced at injuries and persecutions, because in forgiving them they had something to present to God when they prayed to Him.

Teresa of Ávila

Those who in fact risk all for God will find that they have both lost all and gained all.

Teresa of Ávila

I had many friends to help me to fall; but as to rising again, I was so much left to myself, that I wonder now I was not always on the ground. I praise God for His mercy; for it was He only Who stretched out His hand to me. May He be blessed for ever! Amen.

Teresa of Ávila

Discontent with this world gives such a painful longing to quit it that, if the heart finds comfort, it is solely from the thought that God wishes it to remain here in banishment.

Teresa of Ávila

Reflect upon the providence and wisdom of God in all created things and praise Him in them all.

Teresa of Ávila

There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God's.

Teresa of Ávila

For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.

Teresa of Ávila

God deliver me from people who are so spiritual that they want to turn everything into perfect contemplation, come what may.

Teresa of Ávila

I have often thought with wonder of the great goodness of God; and my soul has rejoiced in the contemplation of His great magnificence and mercy. May He be blessed for ever! For I see clearly that He has not omitted to reward me, even in this life, for every one of my good desires.

Teresa of Ávila

I once heard a spiritual man say that he was not so much astonished at the things done by a soul in mortal sin as at the things not done by it. May God, in his mercy, deliver us from such great evil, for there is nothing in the whole of our lives that so thoroughly deserves to be called evil as this, since it brings endless and eternal evils in its train.

Teresa of Ávila

God speaks to souls through words uttered by pious people, by sermons or good books, and in many other such ways. Sometimes he calls souls by means of sickness or troubles, or by some truth He teaches them during prayer, for tepid as they may be in seeking Him, yet God holds them very dear.

Teresa of Ávila

Humility does not disturb or disquiet or agitate, however great it may be; it comes with peace, delight, and calm.... The pain of genuine humility doesn't agitate or afflict the soul; rather, this humility expands it and enables it to serve God more.

Teresa of Ávila

The custom of speaking to God Almighty as freely as with a slave - caring nothing whether the words are suitable or not, but simply saying the first thing that comes to mind from being learnt by rote by frequent repetition - cannot be called prayer: God grant that no Christian may address Him in this manner.

Teresa of Ávila

God prefers your health, and your obedience, to your penance.

Teresa of Ávila

One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer.

Teresa of Ávila

I feared them so little, that the terrors, which until now oppressed me, quitted me altogether; and though I saw them occasionally, — I shall speak of this by and by, — I was never again afraid of them — on the contrary, they seemed to be afraid of me. I found myself endowed with a certain authority over them, given me by the Lord of all, so that I cared no more for them than for flies. They seem to be such cowards; for their strength fails them at the sight of any one who despises them. These enemies have not the courage to assail any but those whom they see ready to give in to them, or when God permits them to do so, for the greater good of His servants, whom they may try and torment.

Teresa of Ávila

God gave us faculties for our use; each of them will receive its proper reward. Then do not let us try to charm them to sleep, but permit them to do their work until divinely called to something higher.

Teresa of Ávila

It is impossible for human tongue to exaggerate the riches which a vision from God brings to the soul: it even bestows health and refreshment on the body.

Teresa of Ávila

We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble.

Teresa of Ávila