Passages for Meditation

Saint Teresa of Avila

You Are Christ's Hands

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out
Christ's compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now.

Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, born in Avila, Spain, in 1515, is one of the best-loved saints in the Catholic tradition and a spiritual figure of universal appeal. A vivacious, talented girl, she entered a Carmelite convent at eighteen and passed more than twenty years there in doubt and division before she was able to dedicate herself completely to God. After that, her life is one of intense practical activity – establishing convents, teaching, writing, traveling – centered in the deepest spirituality and inner peace. Her three books are classics of world mysticism. This poem is said to be from a letter by Saint Teresa to her nuns. This is a free rendering by Eknath Easwaran.