Rorate Caeli

Saint Teresa of Jesus - Laetare: Nada te turbe / Let naught disturb thee


Is it the most famous non-liturgical Catholic poem ever? Quite possibly: the "Nada te turbe" stands as a bulwark of calm and stability of what was one of the most intense and passionate souls ever to have put on a habit. Though there are longer versions, the short one is the one we know for sure that she used as a bookmark in her Breviary.

In this Sunday dedicated to general rejoicing in the path of the Holy Cross (cf. Introit for the Mass) and to trust in the Lord and His Providence (cf. Tract and the Offertory Antiphon for the Mass, as well as the Gospel of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes), no wiser words than those of Saint Teresa, the great gift given by Divine Providence to the Church.

Translation by the nuns of the former Stanbrook Abbey:

Nada te turbe;
nada te espante;
todo se pasa;
Dios no se muda,
la paciencia todo lo alcanza.
Quien a Dios tiene,
nada le falta.
Solo Dios basta.
Let naught disturb thee ;
Naught fright thee ever ;
All things are passing ;
God changeth never.
Patience e'er conquers ;
With God for thine own
Thou nothing dost lack
He sufficeth alone !