title: “The Nuns of the Monastery of Saint Joseph of Ávila Should Not Concern Themselves with Temporal Matters. The Great Advantages of Poverty.” date: 2026-01-22T19:29:10+0100 draft: true

Source: Google Books

Do not think, my sisters, that by not seeking to please people of the world, you will lack what is necessary. Such a fear would be unfounded, I assure you. Therefore, never try to procure it for yourselves through human contrivances. If you do so, you will die of hunger—and rightly so. Keep your eyes raised to your divine Spouse, since it is He who takes charge of your sustenance. Serve Him in such a way that He is pleased with you; then those who are least fond of you will hasten, despite themselves, to provide for your needs, as you yourselves have experienced. And if, while striving in all things to please Him who is the sole love of your hearts, you should come to die of hunger, I would say: Happy, and a thousand times happy, are the Carmelites of Saint Joseph of Ávila!

In the name of the divine Master, never forget this: since you have renounced having revenues, strip yourselves also of all concern for temporal matters; otherwise, there is no hope of attaining perfection. Let those who, by the will of Our Lord, possess revenues concern themselves with them; such care is perfectly legitimate and suited to their state. But for us, my daughters, it would be folly; for would it not be to turn our thoughts toward the property of others?

Besides, would such concerns inspire those who do not possess it to give us alms? Abandon yourselves to Him who can move hearts as He pleases, and who is the absolute master of riches and of those who possess them. It is by His command that we have come here. His words are true; they are infallible: heaven and earth shall pass away before they fail to be fulfilled. Let us be faithful to our commitments, and let us not fear that His assistance will fail us. But if it should, let us have no doubt that it would be for our greater good. Thus did this adorable Master allow the saints to perish for His cause, in order to increase their glory through the palm of martyrdom. What a height of happiness for us would be a death that, in a single instant, carried us from the miseries of this exile to the fullness of eternal joys!

Weigh carefully, I beg you, my sisters, the importance of this counsel. I leave it to you in writing so that you may remember it after my death; for while I remain in this world, I shall not fail often to remind you of it. I know from experience how much is gained by putting it into practice. The less we have, the less I worry; and Our Lord knows very well that I suffer more when alms go beyond what is necessary than when we still lack something—though I could not say that we have ever been in want, so prompt is this adorable Master to come to our aid.

My daughters, it would be deceiving the world to have other sentiments: indeed, we would appear to be poor, while being poor only outwardly and not in spirit. I would consider it a matter of conscience, because, in my opinion, we would then be like rich people asking for alms. May God preserve us from such a fault; for in monasteries where people give themselves over to this overly eager concern with attracting charitable gifts, they will eventually acquire the habit of it. Then it may happen that they ask for what is not necessary, perhaps from persons who are themselves in more urgent need. Truly, those persons can only benefit from giving, but the monasteries lose by it.

I pray to God, my daughters, that He may not allow this to happen to you; and if it were to happen, I would still prefer that you had revenues. Therefore, let your minds in no way give themselves over to these excessive concerns about temporal matters; I ask you for this grace as an alms and for the love of God. But if this misfortune should occur in this house, then the least of all the sisters ought to cry out to Our Lord and humbly point out to the prioress that she has departed from the true path, and that such infidelity will gradually bring about the ruin of true poverty. I hope in the goodness of the divine Master that this will not happen, and that He will not abandon His servants; and even if this writing, which you required of me, should be useless in other respects, it will at least serve continually to awaken in your souls the sentiments you ought to have concerning poverty. Believe me, my daughters, God has given me, for your good, some understanding of the advantages contained in this holy virtue. Those who practise it will understand them, though perhaps not as much as I do; for God has shown them to me in a light all the brighter because I had for so long been foolish in spirit, instead of being poor in spirit, as my profession bound me to be.

This happy poverty is a good that contains within itself all goods; it gives us, as it were, sovereign dominion over the goods of this world, for to despise them is to be their master. What does the favour of monarchs and great men matter to me, if I do not desire their riches, and if, in order to please them, I must cause the slightest displeasure to my God? What do their honours matter to me, if I have once truly understood that the greatest honour of a poor person consists in being truly poor? I believe that honours and riches almost always go hand in hand; whoever loves honour cannot hate riches, and whoever abhors riches cares little for honour. This is a truth that must sink deeply into our minds.

In my opinion, the honour shown to others is always mixed with some temporal interest. It is remarkable in the world for a poor person to be honoured; whatever his merit, people make very little of him. But true poverty—I mean that which is embraced solely for the love of God—bears I know not what crown of honour that causes it to be well regarded by all. It concerns itself only with pleasing God, and it is sure of having many friends as soon as it needs no one. I know this because I have seen it. But since there are so many writings on this virtue, I shall stop here; besides, having practised it so poorly until now, and being so far from understanding its excellence, how could I speak of it worthily? Would I not have reason to fear diminishing it by my praises? Let it therefore suffice that I have set forth what experience has taught me about it.

For the love of Our Lord, my daughters, remember that our weapons are holy poverty. Remember that at the beginning of our Order, it was so highly esteemed and so strictly observed by our blessed fathers that they kept nothing from one day to the next, as men in a position to know have assured me. Since outwardly poverty among us is less austere, let us at least make generous efforts to make it equally perfect within us. We have only two hours to live; and then, what a reward! But even if there were no other reward than following a counsel of Our Lord, what a recompense it would be for us to have the happiness of imitating in some way this divine Master!

I repeat, my daughters, these are the weapons that should be seen upon our banners. Let our dearest desire therefore be to preserve poverty intact. Let everything correspond to our glorious emblem: our dwellings, our clothing, our desires, our words, and above all our thoughts. As long as you conduct yourselves in this way, do not fear seeing the regularity that reigns in this house decline. Saint Clare called poverty and humility the two great walls of religious life, and she wished her monasteries to be surrounded by them. Indeed, if poverty is faithfully observed, it will be, both for the honour of the monastery and for everything else, a far stronger bulwark than the magnificence of buildings. Beware, my daughters, of ever erecting splendid buildings of this kind; I ask it of you for the love of God and by the precious blood of His Son. If this should happen, my wish, which I make in conscience, is that they collapse on the very day they are completed. It would be very wrong, my daughters, to build large houses with the goods of the poor. I beg the Lord to preserve us from it. Our houses must be small, and everything in them must breathe poverty. Let us resemble our King in something: in this world, He had only the stable of Bethlehem in which He was born, and the cross upon which He died. Were these very pleasant dwellings?

As for those who build vast buildings, they have their reasons for doing so, and doubtless they follow holy intentions. But for thirteen poor nuns, the smallest little corner is enough. Have, if you wish, an enclosure, and within that enclosure a few hermitages where each of you may go to pray alone; to this I gladly consent. I even say that, because of the strict enclosure in which you live, this is necessary for you, and I add that the solitude of these hermitages fosters recollection in prayer and contributes to devotion. But may God preserve us from vast buildings or any elaborate ornament!

Keep constantly present in your minds the thought that everything must fall on the day of judgment; and who knows whether that day is near? Would it then be fitting for the house of thirteen poor nuns to make a great noise when it falls? True poor people ought not to do so; they should be people of little noise if they wish others to have compassion on them.

What holy joy it would be for you, my daughters, if someone were delivered from hell through an alms he had given you! Yet everything is possible, given the sacred obligation you have to pray very diligently for your benefactors. Every alms undoubtedly comes to us from the Lord, but He wishes us to be grateful to those through whom He gives it to us. Therefore, always be very faithful in paying this tribute of gratitude and prayer.

I do not know what I had begun to say, because I have made a great digression. It is Our Lord, I have no doubt, who has willed it so; and what makes me believe this is that I had never thought of writing what I have just set down here. I pray this adorable Master always to sustain us with His hand, so that we may never be seen to fall away from this perfection of poverty. Amen!