Today, in the Vincentian family, is the feast of St.Louise de Marillac, co-founder of the Daughters of Charity. She was a 17th century widow and mother who teamed up with St. Vincent de Paul to address the urgent needs of poor people in Paris, especially the orphans and the foundlings.
I'm not going to give a full biography here, but she was a remarkable woman - creative , energetic,
flexible, organized... deeply in love with God... but still a big worrier. She worried about her son Michel, her new community, all the administrative headaches, Vincent's health, on and on. It's evident in all her letters.
Then, on this day, I was also thinking about St. Teresa of Avila, another great woman, of the century before Louise. I was thinking of her because of her poem/prayer that I have loved for a long time,
and am just learning in Spanish:
Nada de Turbe
Nada te turbe, nada te espante;
quien a Dios tiene nada le falta.
Nada te turbe, nada te espante:
sólo Dios basta.
1. Todo se pasa, Dios no se muda. La paciencia todo lo alcanza.
2. En Cristo mi confianza, y de Él solo mi asimiento, en sus cansancios mi aliento, y en su imitación mi holganza.
3. Aquí estriba mi firmeza, aquí mi seguridad, la prueba de mi verdad, la muestra de mi firmeza.
4. Ya no durmáis, no durmáis, pues que no hay paz en la tierra. No haya ningún cobarde aventuremos la vida. No hay que temer no durmáis, aventuremos la vida.
(Teresa v. Ávila)
quien a Dios tiene nada le falta.
Nada te turbe, nada te espante:
sólo Dios basta.
1. Todo se pasa, Dios no se muda. La paciencia todo lo alcanza.
2. En Cristo mi confianza, y de Él solo mi asimiento, en sus cansancios mi aliento, y en su imitación mi holganza.
3. Aquí estriba mi firmeza, aquí mi seguridad, la prueba de mi verdad, la muestra de mi firmeza.
4. Ya no durmáis, no durmáis, pues que no hay paz en la tierra. No haya ningún cobarde aventuremos la vida. No hay que temer no durmáis, aventuremos la vida.
(Teresa v. Ávila)
in English:
Let nothing trouble you.
Let nothing scare you.
All is fleeting.
God alone is unchanging.
Patience
Everything obtains.
Who possesses God
Nothing wants.
God alone suffices.
From The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila Volume Three translated by Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriquez (c) 1985
I wonder if Louise knew Teresa's prayer, and if she prayed with it.
I downloaded a wonderful CD by the Taize Community today, called
Bendecid al Señor, with many psalms and prayers sung beautifully in Spanish.
I'm hoping to sing along, and improve my Spanish along the way.
here is a photo of the Taize Community:
I'm also hoping Teresa's prayer will help me with my worrying. I am not a big worrier, but right now I have been sick twice in the last thirty days with a bad stomach upset, and that makes me worry about cancer recurrence, because I can't really figure out why it happened twice. Can one catch two stomach viruses in such a short time? I hope so.
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