Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friend,

Today St. Teresa of Avila is commemorated on our calendar. She wrote books in the 1500s at the intersection of practical approaches to community life and contemplative prayer. Two poems attributed to her are below, and I hope they might be an inspiration to you today.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.


Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing make you afraid.
All things are passing.
God alone never changes.
Patience gains all things.
If you have God you will want for nothing.
God alone suffices.

Both tread ground of both practical and philosophical approaches to loving God and neighbor. From the little bit I know about Teresa she approached her religious leadership as a Carmelite with rigor and seriousness, self-reflection and commitment. You can read more about her here. A balance of disciplined prayer and austerity with what I hope was sincere joy in community and discipleship seem like conditions that might open the heart for contemplation and make space for poetry that speaks 500 years later of the dance of humanity and divinity in our day to day. I’ll spend some time with these poems today and invite you to do the same in her honor, and with hope for contemplative open hearts.

In Christ,

Mtr Taylor