The lives of the saints . to her or them. At last afather of the Society of Jesus, Baltazar Alvarez, came toAvila, and by the advice of her lay friend and the priest, hewas called into consultation on her visions. This father atonce understood her case, as she believed. He encouragedme much, and told me that my prayer was very evidentlyfrom the Spirit of God. Not long after, S. Francis Borgiacame to Avila, and S. Theresa spoke to him, gave him along account of her manner of prayer, her trances, andvisions. He at once assured her that they came from former confessors had forbidden her t
The lives of the saints . to her or them. At last afather of the Society of Jesus, Baltazar Alvarez, came toAvila, and by the advice of her lay friend and the priest, hewas called into consultation on her visions. This father atonce understood her case, as she believed. He encouragedme much, and told me that my prayer was very evidentlyfrom the Spirit of God. Not long after, S. Francis Borgiacame to Avila, and S. Theresa spoke to him, gave him along account of her manner of prayer, her trances, andvisions. He at once assured her that they came from former confessors had forbidden her to give way to herraptures ; the two Jesuit fathers reversed the treatment, andbade her yield herself up to all her ecstatic emotions. Sheat once felt nerved to give up her httle gossips with malefriends, and she was the more confirmed to do so by hearingChrist in vision bid her converse no more with men, butwith angels. From that day I have remained full ofcourage and resolution to abandon all thiiigs for God. Thus * ii(. Oct. 15. -* Oct. 15.] ?S. Theresa. 371 there was no longer any necessity to command me in this re-spect, for when my confessor found me so resolute, he didnot even think it necessary to issue his orders on this point. Baltazar Alvarez always supported Theresa in her convic-tions that her visions were divine, but he could not be alwaysat Avila, and she was therefore at times obliged to returnto her former confessors. They would not believe in theheavenly origin of her ecstasies, and assured her she was aprey to delusions of the devil. At last, thinking she wasdoing herself harm by these high-flown devotions, they for-bade her the practice of mental prayer. Thereupon she hada vision in which our Lord appeared to her, and denouncedthe conduct of her confessors as downright tyranny, and badeher go and tell them so.^ Her visions were not always cal-culated to impress her confessors with convictions that theywere mistaken. Once she saw a seraph stab at her with adar
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