Of all the things St. Teresa of Avila accomplished—authoring spiritual classics, reforming convents, receiving profound mystical experiences, and being named the first female Doctor of the Church—arguably, it is her often quoted words of peace that have resonated most with the generations that have come and gone since the time she wrote them:
Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.
Why should such a short little message so deeply move the hearts of countless souls around the world? Because these countless souls—in fact, all of us—so often are “disturbed.” This disturbance—our fear, our anxiety, our worry—causes us great pain in life. It is our disturbance that places an obstacle to our trust in God, and it is our disturbance that prevents us from hearing His voice or seeing His hand in our trials.
There are certain holy souls who endure trials that are very great but are not disturbed at all. There are souls who seem truly unafraid of the future, and who do not seem to fret about how long their trial might last. They do not ruminate over how unfair life is or how miserable they feel. We long to have this same disposition in our own (often lesser) trials—but how? Unlike them, we cannot stop thinking about how miserable our circumstance is, how unfair life is, and how we do not deserve our lot. What is the secret these others know that we do not?
It is the secret that St. Teresa shares with us in her message.
All Things Pass
The first point St. Teresa teaches us is that “all things pass.” If we think back to the trials we have endured in the past—whether or not they were resolved in the way we had hoped—the great disturbance we experienced in the midst of them eventually subsided, if not ceased altogether.
Once, when one of my children was going through a very difficult trial, as a mother, my disturbance was so great that I could not eat, I could not sleep, I could not think about anything else; I could scarcely pray! I walked around with a perpetual pit of anxiety in my stomach. But over time, the circumstance, though painful, transformed in grace, and the resolution to the difficulty was better than anything I could have ever imagined. The resolution was so grace-filled, in fact, that from my perspective on the other side of the trial, I could honestly say that I would not go back and change it, even if I could.
Of course, not every trial ends “better” than we had imagined. Sometimes it just ends. In the last days of her life, my mother suffered with enormous physical pain. I prayed that God would heal her; I did not want to lose my sweet mama! Once again, my disturbance was so great that I could not eat, I could not sleep, I could barely pray, and once again, I walked around with a pit of anxiety in my stomach. Alas, God did not answer my prayers in the way that I had hoped. Mom did not get better. And on the afternoon of October 15, 2013, she passed away—on the feast day of her favorite saint, Teresa of Avila. My sorrow was very great.
There was no happy ending to this particular trial (at least not for me, on my side of eternity), but something “great” did take place. In fact, it was so great that, just as in the case of the resolved trial which my child had endured, I could honestly say, in a certain sense, I would not go back and change things, even if I could. Because God granted me the grace of peace. The agony of not knowing how things would end had now truly passed, just as Teresa promised it would. And though my heart was filled with sorrow, it truly was no longer disturbed.
Patience Achieves Everything
Next, Teresa tells us the second reason that we need not be disturbed: “Patience achieves everything.” If we believe that our prayers are not being heard, that Jesus is ignoring us in our trials, or that He does not care that we are suffering, it is simply because we want our suffering gone now. In other words, we are impatient.
Of course, this is understandable. Some trials are so intolerable that to imagine enduring them a moment longer, let alone a year longer (or more), seems unbearable. But if we pay attention to the words of St. Teresa, we will come to realize that it is God who allows us our trials—“for our welfare and not for woe” (Jer. 29:11)—and that therefore, whatever purpose He has for them needs time to play out. Sometimes this might mean one day, but sometimes it might mean one lifetime. Regardless of how long it takes, if we truly believe that “all things work for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28), then we do not have to worry so much about timetables—even when things seem to be going from bad to worse.
Sometimes people will say, “We have to pray very hard for this intention.” Honestly, for little souls such as ourselves, how are we to pray any “harder” than we already do? It sounds an awful lot like “think about this more”—or worse: “worry about this more.” The concept sounds overwhelming, and far beyond our capabilities. But, mercifully, Teresa tells us that the kind of prayer that triumphs over our trials is the kind that worries less and lets go more. That is to say, the spiritual exercise we engage in is the one that puts into practice handing over our troubles to Jesus to take care of, and then patiently waits for Him to resolve things, in His way and in His time.
Now if this sounds rather passive, let’s make no mistake: patience takes an enormous amount of strength—a whole lot more than does anxiety and worry! Anxiety and worry are easy by comparison because that is our natural human inclination. But it is by patience alone that we receive the peace we seek.
Whoever Has God Lacks Nothing; God Alone Suffices
Finally, St. Teresa tells us that “whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.” Let us remember that ultimately, our time spent on earth is not solely about this life but, more importantly, the next. If we can strive to view our circumstances in the context of eternity, this will be the way to maintain our peace. Therefore, let us allow the grace of God to pour into all our circumstances—the joys as well as the sorrows—and in this way, our hearts need not be disturbed.
Author’s Note: This article was adapted from a chapter in 26 Steps with the Saints: Examining the Lives of the Holy Ones.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
