Prayers of Saint Teresa of Ávila, Doctor of the Church
Only God is enough
“Nothing disturbs you,
nothing scares you.
Everything will calm down,
patience achieves everything.
Whoever has God lacks nothing.
Only God is enough!”
Prayer to ask for the grace of friendship with God
“O Saint Teresa of Jesus, you are the teacher of genuine prayer and you teach us to pray by talking to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. O Saint Teresa, help us to pray with faith and confidence, without ever doubting divine goodness. Help us to pray with complete conformity of our will with the will of God, with insistent perseverance until we achieve what we need.”
Make us faithful to our prayer
“O Saint Teresa of Jesus, make us faithful to our morning and evening prayer, and to transform the fulfillment of our daily tasks into prayer. May prayer be for us the door to our sanctification and the golden key that will open the door to Heaven. Amen. Saint Teresa of Jesus, pray for us!”
To fulfill God’s will and earn his friendship
“Saint Teresa, virgin wife, especially beloved of the Crucified One, doctor of the Lord, allow that, imitating you perfectly, I may fulfill the will and gain the friendship of the Supreme Good, before seeking the joys of the world. Despite all my contradictions and defects, give me strength to follow your example and fully follow Christ with that perfection that He asks for. With your help, I can overcome the difficulties of this life and deserve endless rest in heaven. Amen.”
Thank you that God never abandons you
“Blessed are You forever, because even when I left You,
You did not turn away from me completely,
Always giving me your hand
So that I could get up again;
Many times, Lord, I didn’t want her,
I didn’t even try to understand why so many times
You called me again” (Life 6,9).
Thanking God for patience
“O infinite goodness of my God, it seems to me that I see You and see You in this way! O delight of those, who, upon seeing this, my whole being would like to dissolve in Your love! How true it is that You suffer with those who suffer for having You close to them. What a good friend you are, my Lord! How you toast my soul, and suffer, waiting for it to reach Your condition, supporting hers, until she achieves it! Consider, my Lord, the moments in which she wants you and, through a glimpse of repentance on her part, you forget that she has offended You” (Life 6).
Gratitude and humility
“Blessed are You, my Lord, who makes water so filthy that it can be brought to Your table! Be praised, O delight of angels, for wishing to elevate such a vile worm” (Life 19, 2).
Strengthen my soul
“Strengthen my soul, preparing it first, Good of all goods and my Jesus, and then ordering the means to serve You, because I can no longer bear to receive so much and pay nothing. Whatever it takes, Lord, do not allow me to come before You with such empty hands, as the reward will be given according to works. Here is my life, here is my honor and my will; I have given you everything, I am yours, dispose of me according to your will” (Life 21, 5).
“O Lord of my soul, I wish I had words to explain what You give to those who trust in You and what those who reach this state and become attached to themselves lose! You don’t want that, because you do much more by coming to an inn as bad as mine. Blessed are you forever and ever!” (Life 22, 17).
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Thanks for freedom
“Blessed be God forever, for having given me, in an instant, the freedom that, with all the efforts I made for many years, I could not achieve alone, having often reached the point of exhausting myself so much that I was shaking myself. As it was given by Him who is powerful and true Lord of all, this freedom did not cause me any suffering” (Life 24, 8).
The Lord is never missing
“O my Lord, how true a friend you are; You are powerful, when you want you can, and you never stop wanting whoever wants you! Praise you all things, Lord of the world! Blessed are those who can travel the entire universe to say how faithful You are to Your friends! All things are missing; You, Lord of them all, are never lacking. Little to leave those who love you. O my Lord! With what delicacy, politeness and flavor you know how to treat them! Happy are those who have dedicated themselves to loving only You! It seems, Lord, that You rigorously test those who love You, so that in the extreme of suffering they can understand the greatest extreme of Your love” (Life 25, 17).
Just love you
“O my Lord, how powerful you show that you are! There is no need to look for reasons for what You want, because, above all natural reason, You make all things so possible that You lead us to understand without any doubt that it is enough to truly love You and sincerely abandon everything for You so that, my Lord, , make everything easy” (Life 35, 13).