Page:Saint Theresa of Avila (Gilman 1889).djvu/43

Rh and of Augustine bade her be assured that there was but one love which would ever satisfy her, and but one way by which she would surely gain inward peace.

She read Augustine’s beautiful rhapsody:—

And shall we marvel that it awoke a response in her youthful heart? The earthly love she had heard described in the most fascinating romances of chivalry was as nothing compared to these rapturous joys. “The soul that loveth, goeth up often to the heavenly Jerusalem, and runneth familiarly from street to street, visiting the patriarchs and prophets, saluting the apostles, wondering at the hosts of martyrs and confessors, gazing at the companies of the virgins,” wrote the greatest herald of the Divine love the world has ever known.

Surely, Theresa thought, it was this pure, mysterious love that the human soul was alone created to enjoy; and with Saint Augustine she