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

On the 5th Centenary of the Birth of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Catholic Reformer - Guest-post by Don Pietro Leone

I - The Life

St. Teresa was born in Gotarrendura, Avila, Castile, of Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda and Beatrice (Beatriz) de Ahumada on 28th March, 1515, 500 years ago. As a child she ran away from home in search of martyrdom at the hands of the Moslems Her desire was 'to see God', which was later to be realized in her exercise of mental prayer, which particularly in the form of contemplation, is of course nothing else than the knowledge and love of the Most Blessed Trinity as a foretaste of the Beatific Vision.

After a period of a certain levity and frivolity, although in innocence, she was entrusted by her father to the educative care of the Augustinian nuns of Avila, whence she later entered in the order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Saint Teresa of Jesus - 500 - II - Laetare: Nada te turbe / Let naught disturb thee

Saint Teresa of Jesus - 500 - I - I was born for Thee

It is quite hard to translate and keep both a reasonable identity of meaning between the original version and the translated text. With poetry, this is much harder. With devotional poetry, even more. And it is almost unimaginably difficult to do all that while remaining under the obligation to prevent any doctrinal error from creeping into the translation of a thoroughly orthodox text.

So all our gratitude to the nuns of the former Stanbrook Abbey for the great effort they put over 100 years ago in the translation of some of the deepest works of Saint Teresa of Avila, her poems, the greatest jewel of the Golden Age of Spanish Arts and Literature (el Siglo de Oro), that cultural apotheosis of Catholic civilization. As we approach the 500th anniversary of her birthday (March 28, 1515), let us get nearer to the Lord this Lent in her own words.

Vuestra soy, para Vos nací

I am Thine, I was born for Thee