I’ve never felt more convicted by St. Teresa of Avila’s words than now, when I’ve taken a long hiatus from writing, and find myself facing a deadline. “It is time to walk,” or as I first saw that statement in Spanish, “Ya es tiempo de caminar.”
In other words, get to it.
The context isn’t quite right — she was on her death bed and was talking to Jesus. I’m not on my death bed, though it is a small death to face the blank page if you’re a writer.
Anyway, today on the feast of St. Teresa I am reminded that I need to get moving — get the manuscript finished, but more than that, get myself together and live this pilgrim life.
I just got back from a month-long tour of Scotland. My husband and I took off to enjoy a slow journey around the country — a bucket list vacation where we took our time and saw the beautiful countryside. I expected lots of ruins and monuments, and got plenty of them. I crawled through the cavern to the Tomb of the Eagles and climbed the 246 steps of the Wallace Monument. What I didn’t expect was a pilgrimage featuring some of my favorite saints. I’ll write more about that in the coming days.
The last leg of our trip was in London. We spent a few days in the city, resting, before flying out of Heathrow. Although we had seen many majestic cathedrals, we attended Mass in modern churches since the cathedrals were now Church of Scotland. Finally in London, we looked online for a place to attend Mass on our last Sunday. Mr. Google kindly suggested the London Oratory, which was just minutes away from our hotel in South Kensington.
It was one of the most beautiful Masses I’ve attended in a long time. Maybe it was the beauty of the church, Immaculate Heart of Mary, or maybe it was finding myself in a holy place after chasing so many pagan ruins. I felt at home, surrounded by my favorite saints, Saints who have been in my life recently because of some writing projects. St. Philip Neri has been a long-time favorite, and the church, of course, is part of the St. Philip Oratory, which is sometimes called the Brompton Oratory although its proper name is the London Oratory. Take a tour here!
Though I’d spent a month in tourist mode taking hundreds of photos, I took only a few here. I was there for Mass, not sight-seeing, but I did take a couple of pictures. As soon as I walked in, my eyes were drawn to the altar on my right –I couldn’t help the smile that bubbled up, as I realized it’s the St. Mary Magdalene altar. I’m currently writing about Mary Magdalene, so I walked over for a brief prayer. There, the natural light illuminated a stature of St. Teresa, pen poised, book open.
Hi, old friend, I whispered.
Start walking, she responded.
Good ole St. Teresa. She doesn’t mince words with me. There’s no getting away from her eagle eye ever since I commended myself to her patronage. That’s a good thing, because I need a firm hand. I understood her — I need to get to work on the manuscript, but more than that, I need to get walking with the Lord. He has laid out a path for me, and I will follow it, joyfully!
We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can – namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.
Happy Feast of St. Teresa of Avila!
