obtain his consent; nor could the prayers of others, whom I
persuaded to speak to him, be of any avail. The utmost I could
get from him was that I might do as I pleased after his death.
I now began to be afraid of myself, and of my own weakness--for I
might go back. So, considering that such waiting was not safe
for me, I obtained my end in another way, as I shall now relate.


1. St. Matt. xx. 16: "Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi."

2. Juana Suarez, in the Monastery of the incarnation, Avila
(Reforma, lib. i. ch. vii. section 7).

3. Maria de Cepeda, married to Don Martin Guzman y Barrientos.
They lived in Castellanos de la Canada, where they had
considerable property; but in the later years of their lives they
were in straitened circumstances (De la Fuente). See below,
ch. xxxiv. section 24.

4. Don Pedro Sanchez de Cepeda. He lived in Hortigosa, four
leagues from Avila (De la Fuente).



Chapter IV.


Our Lord Helps Her to Become a Nun. Her Many Infirmities.