Vexation and the Human Heart

Vexation — a state of frustration, disturbance, anxiety, or deep interior trouble — often brings a want of humility and charity. Trials and tribulations test faith and patience, and in such moments the human heart is easily disturbed and drawn away from interior peace.

The Desire for God

Yet the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in CCC 27 that the desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God, to share in His own divine life. God never ceases to draw man to Himself. Only in God will man find the truth and happiness for which he never stops searching.

Saint Teresa’s Trials

This interior struggle can be seen in the life of Saint Teresa of Ávila during the composition of The Interior Castle. The Saint was not in good health at the time; she repeatedly complained of noises in the head and other infirmities. More painful still were the troubles and anxieties caused by opposition from the superiors of the Order and from the Papal Nuncio against the nuns and friars of the Reform.

Opposition and Suffering

Matters became even more serious when the nuns of the Incarnation at Ávila elected a new prioress. Notwithstanding the prohibition of the provincial, fifty-five electors cast their votes in favor of the Saint and were immediately declared excommunicated. The work of the Reform seemed on the brink of ruin. The Saint herself, together with many of her friends, fell into disgrace and became subject to misunderstanding, humiliation, and ill-treatment.