ST TERESA OF AVILA PRAYERS

DAY FIVE

How prescient was St Teresa!  She knows all our foibles, our procrastinations, our false starts, our doubts and fears, our lack of self-confidence.  And yet, she tells us never to give up, and if we do, to get right back on the path, for as long as we are sincere and persevering, God will help us and never fail us.  Let us not imagine ever that the path is easy and we can traverse it quickly, for the path is truly like a razor’s edge, and to stay on will require determination and courage the like of which we have never experienced before. As long as we stay faithfully on the path, God will transform us beyond all our expectations.  Bharti

PRAYER:   You have yet to conquer your passions.

Yet by the very fact that you seek to love God,

you expect to be extremely brave, as brave as a saint. 

You find yourself praising the Lord,

but at the same time knowing deep sadness of soul.

Do not be troubled, but hope in the Lord.

For if you desire to do the will of the Lord,

if you pray and hope in the Lord

and do what you can for yourself

God will bring about in your soul

all that you desire.

It is very, very important that our weak natures

should have great confidence,

and not be dismayed.

We should think that if we do our best,

we will be victorious.

MANTRA:  Let me not try to fly before God gives me wings.

EVENING PRAYER:  Especially as this day ends, remind me

that perfection is not attained overnight.

I know that if I desire to do your will, O Lord,

if I pray and hope in you

and do what I can for you,

you will bring about in my soul all that you desire.

It is very, very important, I know,

that my weak nature

should have great confidence in you, and not be dismayed.

If I do my best, I will be victorious.

I will fly, but not before you give me wings.