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28 “I resolved,” she wrote, “at last to force myself to take up the religious life. I was more influenced by servile fear, I think, than by love. The Devil put before me that I could not endure the austerities of the life because of my delicate nurture.” But when these doubts arose, Theresa turned again to Father Jerome’s soothing words:—

Comforting words like these burned themselves into the soul of the susceptible girl. She was dissatisfied; here she was promised satisfaction. She was passionate; here she was promised peace. Above all, she was lonely, she had an immense craving for love and sympathy; and the words of the Monk of