Teaching · Way of Perfection
A very determined determination
The secret of perseverance: decide once, and never negotiate again.
“…a very determined determination not to stop until reaching it, come what may, happen what may, toil whatever the toil, murmur whoever may murmur…”
Saint Teresa of Jesus — Way of Perfection, ch. 21
To understand
Deciding once and for all
Saint Teresa speaks here of the way of prayer, and uses a phrase that became famous: what is needed is a “very determined determination.” Not one day's enthusiasm, but a decision made once, no longer argued over every morning.
She knew every excuse — “there are dangers,” “better not to” — and answers them with this joyful firmness: come what may. Whoever decides this way no longer wastes strength doubting whether to continue: they spend it walking.
The source
Way of Perfection, chapter 21
Written around 1566 for her nuns of Saint Joseph's in Ávila. In these chapters the Saint urges them to drink the “living water” of prayer and disarms, one by one, the excuses for not beginning.
Another word of hers
“To begin with the determination to carry the cross from the start, for the Lord Himself showed this way of perfection, saying: ‘Take up your cross and follow Me.’ He is our model.”
Saint Teresa of Jesus — The Book of Her Life
To pray and to teach
How to bring this teaching into prayer
This is how we use it in the prayer group; it works just as well for praying alone or as a family.
1
Read slowly
Read the text twice, aloud, without hurry. The second time, slower than the first.
2
Keep silence
A moment of silence. Let one word or phrase stay with each person.
3
Talk through the questions
Share unhurriedly and without debate: nothing is argued here — we share what God is showing us.
4
End with a resolution
Each person names one concrete step for the week, and you close with a prayer.
Questions to talk about
- What decision in my life of faith do I keep renegotiating every week instead of making it once?
- Which “murmuring” — outside me or within me — holds me back the most?
- What would “not stopping until I arrive” mean today, in something concrete?
For daily life
Three ways to practice it this week
1
Put your decision to pray every day in writing, with a time and a place. Signing it helps.
2
When the excuse comes, answer it with her phrase: come what may.
3
If you fail one day, do not renegotiate the decision: simply take it up again the next day.