170. Jesus Christ seen/heard
over centuries. Part two
4. The mother of
St Augustine, saw a young man, which I presume was Jesus Christ, in a dream. I
have already narrated the dream in a previous blog (154). However for the sake
of continuity I will briefly narrate it here:
“For she saw herself standing on a
certain wooden rule, and a shining youth coming towards her, cheerful and
smiling upon her, herself grieving, and overwhelmed with grief. But he having
(in order to instruct, as is their wont not to be instructed) enquired of her
the causes of her grief and daily tears, and she answering that she was
bewailing my perdition, he bade her rest contented, and told her to look and
observe, “That where she was, there was I also.””
5. St Teresa of Avila had several talks
and visions of Jesus, sometimes both together (1). I have written about some of
them in my blogs, 74-78. I will now narrate most of them. However to understand
some locutions/visions I will have to describe the context. Her first locution
of Christ was as follows:
“While I was wondering how in Thy justice Thou
couldst ordain that so many of Thy faithful handmaidens, as I have said, should
not be given the graces and favors which thou didst bestow on me, being such as
I was, Thou didst answer me, Lord saying ‘ Serve thou Me, and meddle not with
this’. This was the first words which I ever heard Thee speak to me so it made
me very much afraid.”
She describes her vision of Jesus, for the
first time in her book (not necessarily her first vision of Jesus):
‘ I was in the company of a certain person,
right at the beginning of my acquaintance with her, when the Lord was pleased
to make me realize that these friendships were not good for me, and to warn me
and enlighten my great blindness. Christ revealed Himself to me, in an attitude
of great sternness, and showed me there was in this that displeased Him. I saw
Him with the eyes of the soul more clearly than I could ever have seen with the
eyes of the body; and it made such an impression on me that, although it is now
more than twenty six years ago, I seem to have Him present with me still. I was
greatly astonished and upset about it and never wanted to see that woman
again.’
Jesus Christ revealed Himself to her in
stages:
‘I had the following experience. I was at
prayers of glorious St Peter when I saw Christ at my side___or, to
put it better, I was conscious of Him, for neither with the eyes of the body
nor those of the mind did I see anything. I thought He was quite close to me,
and speaking to me. I was very much afraid, and did nothing but weep…..’
‘One day, when I was at prayer, the Lord was
pleased to reveal nothing but His hands, the beauty of which was so great as to
be indescribable’.
‘A few days later I also saw that Divine face,
which seem to leave me completely absorbed.’
One year, on St Paul’s day, when I was at
mass, I saw the most complete representation of this most sacred Humanity, just
as a picture of His resurrection body, in very great beauty and majesty.
Although this vision was imaginary, I never
saw it, or any other vision, with the eyes of the body, but only with the eyes
of the soul.’
‘……even in its whiteness and radiance alone,
it exceeds all that we can imagine. It is not a radiance which dazzles, but a
soft whiteness and infused radiance which, without wearying the eyes, causes
them the greatest delight; nor are they wearied by the brightness they see in
seeing the Divine beauty. So different from any earthly light……..by comparison
with it, the brightness of our son seems quite dim……..It is as if we were to
look at a very clear stream, in a bed of crystal, reflecting the sun’s rays’
She was never able to see His eyes. ‘His gaze
has such power that my soul cannot endure it and remain in so sublime a rapture
that it loses this beauteous vision…’
‘Almost invariably the Lord showed Himself to
me in His resurrection body…..Only occasionally, to strengthen me when I was in
tribulation, did he show me His wounds, and then sometime He would appear as He
was on Cross and sometime as in Garden. On a few occasions I saw Him wearing
crown of thorns and sometime He would also be carrying the Cross.’
She describes a mysterious light: “ For the
light we see here and the other light are both light, there is no comparison
between the two and the brightness of the sun seems quite dull if compared with
the other.”
“ Once when I had been for more than an hour
in this state, and the Lord had shown me wonderful things, and it seemed as if
He were not going to leave me, He said to me, ‘ See, daughter, what those who
are against me lose: do not fail to tell them of it’”
“ One day, when I was hearing Mass, at the
elevation of the Host, I saw Christ on the Cross. He spoke certain words to me,
which He told me to repeat it to the Rector for his comfort, and he added other
things to warn him of what was to come and to remind him of what he had
suffered for him and how he too must prepare to suffer. This brought him great
comfort and gave him courage and everything has since happened as the Lord told
me it would.”
For a period of time she was assailed with
doubts that her locutions and visions were the work of devil. Her confessor and
very pious and learned men of the church were also of the same opinion or had
mixed feelings. During such periods Christ would comfort her. Here are some
examples:
‘I have sometimes___often, indeed___found
myself in this kind of affliction, but never, I think, have I been in such
straits as I was then. I was like this for four or five hours, and neither in
heaven nor on earth was there any comfort for me. When I was in this terrible
state of exhaustion……….these words alone were sufficient to remove it and give
me complete tranquility: “Be not afraid, daughter, for it is I and I will not
forsake thee: fear not”’
On another occasion, when she was worried
about a certain matter, the Lord said to her; “Why dost thou fear? Knowst thou
not that I am most powerful? I will fulfill what I have promised thee”
“Once, when I was very much troubled about
this, the Lord asked me what I was afraid of, for only two things could happen:
those who believed it was His work would praise Him, and those who did not
would condemn me without my having done wrong and that either course would be
advantageous to me and therefore I should not be troubled. This calmed me a
great deal and whenever I think of it, it still comforts me”
‘Once when I was struggling with the same
doubts that I described above, as to whether these visions were from God or no,
the Lord appeared to me and explained sternly: “Oh children of men, how long
will ye be hard of heart”’
(1). The life of Teresa of Jesus, the
autobiography of St Teresa of Avila
To be continued
