Prayer:Nada te turbe
Stored: Nada te turbe
| Nada te turbe | |
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| Author | Unknown |
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| Language | English |
| Approval | None |
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| Added on | 2026-08-13 |
Nada te turbe (English: Let Nothing Disturb You) is a short poem and prayer composed by St. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582), the great Spanish Carmelite mystic, Doctor of the Church, and reformer of the Carmelite Order. Among the most beloved and widely memorized Christian prayers in the world, it distills into nine brief lines the entire spiritual doctrine of trust in God's unchanging providence that Teresa developed across a lifetime of prayer, suffering, and contemplative union with Christ.
The prayer was discovered inscribed in Teresa's breviary following her death on October 4, 1582, and has since been transmitted across centuries, translated into dozens of languages, and set to music by composers ranging from anonymous folk artists to the contemporary musician John Michael Talbot. Its simplicity belies an ocean of theological depth, touching upon the virtues of patience, detachment, and total confidence in God as the sole sufficiency of the soul.
Teresa composed this text as a personal bookmark of the spirit, a reminder she kept close to her own heart in the very book from which she prayed the Liturgy of the Hours each day. For the Carmelite tradition and for the broader Church, it serves as an inexhaustible summary of the interior life and of the peace that surpasses all understanding.
The Prayer
Latin and Spanish Original
- Nada te turbe,
- nada te espante,
- todo se pasa,
- Dios no se muda.
- La paciencia
- todo lo alcanza;
- quien a Dios tiene
- nada le falta:
- solo Dios basta.
English Translation
- Let nothing disturb you,
- let nothing frighten you,
- all things are passing away:
- God never changes.
- Patience obtains all things.
- Whoever has God lacks nothing;
- God alone suffices.
History and Background
St. Teresa of Ávila was born on March 28, 1515, in Ávila, Castile, in the Kingdom of Spain. She entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation at Ávila in 1535 and, after years of spiritual struggle and deepening prayer, underwent a decisive conversion of heart around 1554. She went on to found the Discalced Carmelite Reform, establishing seventeen convents and collaborating closely with St. John of the Cross, and authored spiritual masterpieces including The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle, and her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus. She was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, the first woman to receive that honor alongside St. Catherine of Siena.
The Nada te turbe was not published during Teresa's lifetime as a standalone text. It came to the attention of her spiritual daughters and the wider Church when it was found written in her breviary after she died at Alba de Tormes on October 4, 1582. The circumstances of its discovery lent the prayer an intimate, personal quality: it was not written for publication or renown, but was a private anchor of faith that Teresa carried into her daily liturgical prayer.
Theologically, the prayer reflects the heart of Teresa's mystical teaching. Her major works consistently return to the theme that God alone is the stable ground of the soul's peace, and that all created things, including suffering, consolation, success, and failure, are transitory. The Spanish verb turbar (to disturb, to agitate) appears repeatedly in Teresa's writings as the enemy of authentic interior prayer; in The Interior Castle she warns that the devil's chief tool is precisely to disturb the peace of the soul. The prayer, therefore, is not merely a pious sentiment but a concentrated act of spiritual warfare and theological conviction.
In the centuries since Teresa's death, the prayer has entered the patrimony of the universal Church. It is included in the Liturgy of the Hours materials for her feast day, recommended in numerous papal documents on Carmelite spirituality, and printed in prayer books from virtually every Catholic publishing house in the world. Pope John Paul II quoted it frequently during his pontificate, and it was among the texts displayed prominently during World Youth Days.
The prayer has also inspired a rich musical tradition. The most widely known modern setting is the chant-inflected composition by John Michael Talbot, recorded on his 1991 album Table of Plenty. Choral settings have been composed by Ernesto Halffter, Feliks Nowowiejski, and numerous anonymous sacred composers of the Iberian tradition. The text's rhythmic simplicity in Spanish makes it naturally suited to contemplative chant and repetitive meditative singing.
How to Pray / Devotional Use
The Nada te turbe lends itself to a variety of devotional contexts and may be prayed in several ways:
As a Morning Offering or Centering Prayer
Many Catholics begin their day by slowly reciting or meditating upon this prayer as an act of surrender to divine providence. Each line may be paused upon individually, allowing the soul to release the anxieties of the coming day and to reorient itself toward God as its only necessary good. This practice aligns closely with Teresa's own instructions in The Way of Perfection, where she urges her sisters to begin every hour of prayer by recollecting the presence of God.
As a Prayer in Times of Anxiety or Fear
The prayer is especially powerful when recited during moments of acute fear, uncertainty, or spiritual desolation. The first two lines, Nada te turbe, nada te espante, function as a direct address of the soul to itself, commanding peace in imitation of Christ's own words to His disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (John 14:27). Those facing illness, loss, or distressing circumstances are encouraged to repeat these lines slowly and allow the conviction of God's unchanging faithfulness to displace fear.
As a Closing Prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours
Within Carmelite communities and among those who pray the Divine Office, the Nada te turbe is frequently sung or recited at the close of Compline (Night Prayer) or as a brief doxology of trust before the final blessing. Its structure of nine lines mirrors the ninefold repetition common in traditional Carmelite chant forms.
Lectio Divina on the Text
The prayer may also be prayed in the manner of Lectio Divina:
- Lectio — Read the full text slowly, in Spanish or English, attending to each word.
- Meditatio — Choose one phrase, such as "God never changes" or "God alone suffices," and repeat it gently in the heart.
- Oratio — Allow the phrase to become a personal prayer addressed to God, confessing the specific fears or attachments that hinder peace.
- Contemplatio — Rest in silence, permitting God's presence to be the only thought.
Use in the Rosary and Chaplet Devotions
Some Carmelite and third-order communities use the Nada te turbe as an opening or closing prayer for the Holy Rosary or the Chaplet of the Carmelite Saints, particularly on the feast of St. Teresa or during the month of October, which is both the month of the Rosary and the month in which Teresa's feast falls.
Memorization and the Carmelite Tradition
St. Teresa herself implicitly commended the memorization of short, powerful phrases for use in mental prayer. The Nada te turbe is ideally suited for memorization and for what Teresa called oraciones jaculatorias—brief ejaculatory prayers fired upward to God in the midst of daily activity. Carmelite spiritual directors consistently recommend that the faithful commit this prayer to memory so that it may rise spontaneously to the lips and heart in any moment of trial.