Teresa of Ávila, OCD (born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada; 28 March 15154 or 15 October 1582), also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish Carmelite nun and prominent
Spanish mystic
The Spanish mystics are major figures in the Catholic Reformation of 16th and 17th century Spain. The goal of this movement was to reform the Church structurally and to renew it spiritually. The Spanish Mystics attempted to express in words thei ...
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
, Teresa became the central figure of a movement of spiritual and monastic renewal, reforming the Carmelite Orders of both women and men. The movement was later joined by the younger Spanish Carmelite friar and mystic
John of the Cross
John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major figu ...
, with whom she established the
Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...
. A formal papal decree adopting the split from the old order was issued in 1580.
Her autobiography, ''The Life of Teresa of Jesus'', ''
The Interior Castle
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', and ''The
Way of Perfection
Way may refer to:
Paths
* a road, Thoroughfare, route, path or pathway, including long-distance paths.
* a straight rail or track on a machine tool, (such as that on the Lathe (metal)#Bed, bed of a lathe) on which part of the machine slides
* Way ...
'', are prominent works on
Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...
and
Christian meditation
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word ''meditārī'', which has a range of meanings including to r ...
practice. In her autobiography, written as a defense of her ecstatic mystical experiences, she discerns four stages in the ascent of the
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
to God:
mental prayer
Mental prayer is a form of meditational prayer, "performed without aid of any particular formula." It is distinguished from vocal prayers, "prayers performed by means of a given formula." The aim of mental prayer is 'to inflame souls with the love ...
and meditation; the prayer of quiet; absorption-in-God; ecstatic consciousness.
Forty years after her death, in 1622, Teresa was
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
by
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623.
Biography
Early life
Al ...
. On 27 September 1970
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
proclaimed Teresa the first female ''
Doctor of the Church
Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribu ...
'' in recognition of her centuries-long spiritual legacy to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
Biography
Early life
Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada was born in 1515 in Ávila, Spain. Her paternal grandfather,
Juan Sánchez de Toledo
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
, was a or , a Jew forced to convert to Christianity or emigrate. When Teresa's father was a child, Juan was condemned by the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
for allegedly returning to the
Jewish faith
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the M ...
, but he was later able to assume a Catholic identity. Her father, Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda, was a successful wool merchant and one of the wealthiest men in Ávila. He bought a
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
and assimilated successfully into Christian society.
Previously married to Catalina del Peso y Henao, with whom he had three children, in 1509, Sánchez de Cepeda married Teresa's mother, Beatriz de Ahumada y Cuevas, in Gotarrendura.
Teresa's mother brought her up as a dedicated Christian. Fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, she ran away from home at age seven, with her brother Rodrigo, to seek
martyrdom
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
in the fight against
the Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or s ...
. Her uncle brought them home, when he spotted them just outside the town walls.
When Teresa was eleven years old, her mother died, leaving her grief-stricken. This prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
as her spiritual mother. Teresa was also enamored of popular fiction, which at the time consisted primarily of medieval tales of
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
and works about fashion, gardens and flowers. Teresa was sent to the
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to:
*Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine
*Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs
*Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo
* Canons Regular of Sain ...
nuns' school at
Ávila
Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila.
It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
.
Religious life
Ascetic and mystical practice
After completing her education, she initially resisted the idea of a religious vocation, but after a stay with her uncle and other relatives, she relented. In 1534, aged 20, much to the disappointment of her pious and austere father, she decided to enter the local easy-going Carmelite ''Convent of the Incarnation'', significantly built on top of land that had been used previously as a burial ground for Jews. She took up religious reading on contemplative prayer, especially
Osuna
Osuna () is a town and municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. , it has a population of c. 17,800. It is the location of the Andalusian Social Economy School.
Among famous people associ ...
's ''Abecedario espiritual'' ("Third Spiritual Alphabet," 1527), a guide on
examination of conscience
Examination of conscience is a review of one's past thoughts, words, actions, and omissions for the purpose of ascertaining their conformity with, or deviation from, the moral law. Among Christians, this is generally a private review; secular inte ...
and "spiritual self-concentration and inner contemplation, known in mystical nomenclatura as ." She also dipped into other mystical
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
al works such as the of
Peter of Alcantara
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
.
Her zeal for mortification caused her to become ill again and she spent almost a year in bed, causing huge worry to her community and family. She nearly died but she recovered, attributing her recovery to the miraculous intercession of Saint Joseph. She began to experience bouts of
religious ecstasy
Religious ecstasy is a type of altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness, frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) eup ...
. She reported that, during her illness, she had progressed from the lowest stage of "recollection", to the "devotions of silence" and even to the "devotions of ecstasy", which was one of perceived "perfect union with God" (see ). During this final stage, she said she frequently experienced the rich "blessing of tears". As the Catholic distinction between
mortal
Mortal means susceptible to death; the opposite of immortality, immortal.
Mortal may also refer to:
* Mortal (band), a Christian industrial band
* The Mortal, Sakurai Atsushi's project band
* Mortal (novel), ''Mortal'' (novel), a science fiction ...
and
venial sin
According to Catholicism, a venial sin is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation from God and eternal damnation in Hell as an unrepented mortal sin would. A venial sin consists in acting as one should not, without the actual inc ...
became clear to her, she came to understand the awful horror of sin and the inherent nature of
original sin
Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...
. She also became conscious of her own natural impotence in confronting sin and the need for absolute surrender to
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
.
Around the same time, she received a copy of the full Spanish translation of
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
's autobiographical work '' Confessions'', which helped her resolve and to tend to her own bouts of religious
scruples
Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sens ...
. The text helped her realize that holiness was indeed possible and she found solace in the idea that such a great saint was once an inveterate sinner. In her autobiography, she wrote that she "was very fond of St. Augustine ..for he was a sinner too."
''Transverberation''
Around 1556, friends suggested that her newfound knowledge could be of diabolical and not of divine origin. She had begun to inflict mortifications of the flesh upon herself. But her
confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
Francis Borgia
Francis Borgia ( ca-valencia, Francesc de Borja; es, Francisco de Borja; 28 October 1510 – 30 September 1572) was a Spanish Jesuit priest. The great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI, he was Duke of Gandía and a grandee of Spain. After th ...
, reassured her of the divine inspiration of her thoughts. On
St. Peter's Day
The Feast of Saints Peter and Paul or Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul is a liturgical feast in honor, of the martyrdom in Rome of the Apostles in the New Testament, apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is observed on 29 June. The cel ...
in 1559, Teresa became firmly convinced that Jesus Christ had presented himself to her in bodily form, though invisible. These visions lasted almost uninterruptedly for more than two years. In another vision, the famous ''transverberation'', a
seraph
A seraph (, "burning one"; plural seraphim ) is a type of celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Chr ...
drove the fiery point of a golden lance repeatedly through her heart, causing her an ineffable spiritual and bodily pain:
The account of this vision was the inspiration for one of Bernini's most famous works, the '' Ecstasy of Saint Teresa'' at Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Although based in part on Teresa's description of her mystical
transverberation
Religious ecstasy is a type of altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness, frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) euph ...
in her autobiography, Bernini's depiction of the event is considered by some to be highly eroticized, especially when compared to the entire preceding artistic Teresian tradition.
The memory of this episode served as an inspiration throughout the rest of her life, and motivated her lifelong imitation of the life and suffering of Jesus, epitomized in the adage often associated with her: "Lord, either let me suffer or let me die."The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila
Teresa, who became a celebrity in her town dispensing wisdom from behind the convent grille, was known for her raptures, which sometimes involved
levitation
Levitation (from Latin ''levitas'' "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft in a stable position, without mechanical support via any physical contact.
Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts ...
. It was a source of embarrassment to her and she bade her sisters hold her down when this occurred. Subsequently, historians, neurologists and psychiatrists like Peter Fenwick and Javier Álvarez-Rodríguez, among others, have taken an interest in her symptomatology. The fact that she wrote down virtually everything that happened to her during her religious life means that an invaluable and exceedingly rare medical record from the 16th century has been preserved. Examination of this record has led to the speculative conclusion that she may have suffered from
temporal lobe epilepsy
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a chronic disorder of the nervous system which is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked focal seizures that originate in the temporal lobe of the brain and last about one or two minutes. TLE is the most common f ...
.
Monastic reformer
Over time, Teresa found herself increasingly at odds with the spiritual malaise prevailing in her convent of the Incarnation. Among the 150 nuns living there, the observance of
cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
, designed to protect and strengthen spiritual practice and prayer, became so lax that it appeared to lose its purpose. The daily invasion of visitors, many of high social and political rank, disturbed the atmosphere with frivolous concerns and vacuous conversation. Such intrusions in the solitude essential to develop and sustain contemplative prayer so grieved Teresa that she longed to intervene.
The incentive to take the practical steps inspired by her inward motivation was supported by the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
priest,
Peter of Alcantara
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, who met her early in 1560 and became her
spiritual adviser
Spiritual is the adjective for spirit.
Spiritual may also refer to:
Religion
* Spirituality, a concern with matters of the spirit
**Spiritual attack, an attack by Satan and his demons on a Christian
** Spiritual body, a Christian term for resurr ...
. She resolved to found a "reformed" Carmelite convent, correcting the laxity which she had found at the Incarnation convent and elsewhere besides. Guimara de Ulloa, a woman of wealth and a friend, supplied the funds for the project.
The abject poverty of the new convent, established in 1562 and named St. Joseph's (San José), at first caused a scandal among the citizens and authorities of Ávila, and the small house with its chapel was in peril of suppression. However, powerful patrons, including the local bishop, coupled with the impression of well ordered subsistence and purpose, turned animosity into approval.
In March 1563, after Teresa had moved to the new convent house, she received papal sanction for her primary principles of absolute poverty and renunciation of ownership of property, which she proceeded to formulate into a "constitution". Her plan was the revival of the earlier, stricter monastic rules, supplemented by new regulations including the three disciplines of ceremonial
flagellation
Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
prescribed for the Divine Office every week, and the discalceation of the religious. For the first five years, Teresa remained in seclusion, mostly engaged in prayer and writing.
Extended travels
In 1567, Teresa received a
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
from the Carmelite General, Rubeo de Ravenna, to establish further houses of the new order. This process required many visitations and long journeys across nearly all the provinces of Spain. She left a record of the arduous project in her ''Libro de las Fundaciones''. Between 1567 and 1571, reformed convents were established at
Medina del Campo
Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area.
History
Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fairs ...
,
Malagón
Malagón is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. , it has a population of 8,731.
References
Municipalities in the Province of Ciudad Real
{{CastileLaMancha-geo-stub ...
,
Valladolid
Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
, and
Alba de Tormes
Alba de Tormes is a municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The town is on the River Tormes upstream from the city of Salamanca. Alba gave its name to one of Spain's most i ...
.
As part of the original patent, Teresa was given permission to set up two houses for
men
A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...
who wished to adopt the reforms. She convinced two Carmelite friars,
John of the Cross
John of the Cross, OCD ( es, link=no, Juan de la Cruz; la, Ioannes a Cruce; born Juan de Yepes y Álvarez; 24 June 1542 – 14 December 1591) was a Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and a Carmelite friar of converso origin. He is a major figu ...
and Anthony of Jesus to help with this. They founded the first monastery of Discalced Carmelite brothers in November 1568 at Duruelo. Another friend of Teresa,
Jerónimo Gracián
Jerónimo Gracián or Jerome Gratian (6 June 1545 – 21 September 1614) was a Spanish Carmelite and writer. He was the spiritual director of St Teresa of Ávila, who took a vow of obedience to him. , (457 pages)
He was the first Provincial of ...
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
and apostolic commissioner, and later provincial of the Teresian order, gave her powerful support in founding monasteries at
Segovia
Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia.
Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...
(1571),
Beas de Segura
Beas de Segura is a town located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2009 census (INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* Instituto Nacional de Estad ...
(1574),
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
Murcia
Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...
, 1576). Meanwhile, John of the Cross promoted the inner life of the movement through his power as a teacher and preacher.
Opposition to reforms
In 1576, unreformed members of the Carmelite order began to persecute Teresa, her supporters and her reforms. Following a number of resolutions adopted at the
general chapter
A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings.
Name
The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the read ...
at
Piacenza
Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...
, the governing body of the order forbade all further founding of reformed convents. The general chapter instructed her to go into "voluntary" retirement at one of her institutions. She obeyed and chose St. Joseph's at Toledo. Meanwhile, her friends and associates were subjected to further attacks.
Several years later, her appeals by letter to King
Philip II of Spain
Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
secured relief. As a result, in 1579, the cases before the
inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
against her, Gracián and others, were dropped. This allowed the reform to resume. An edict from
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
allowed the appointment of a special provincial for the newer branch of the Carmelite religious, and a royal decree created a "protective" board of four assessors for the reform.
During the last three years of her life, Teresa founded convents at
Villanueva de la Jara
Villanueva de la Jara, popularly called La Jara, is a town and municipality in the Manchuela Conquense , this in turn is part of the La Manchuela comarca, province of Cuenca, in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is known for the cultivation of port ...
in northern
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
(1580),
Palencia
Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia.
Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...
(1580),
Soria
Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...
(1581),
Burgos
Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos.
Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of t ...
, and
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
(1582). In total, seventeen convents, all but one founded by her, and as many men's monasteries, were owed to her reforms over twenty years.
Last days
Her final illness overtook her on one of her journeys from Burgos to Alba de Tormes. She died in 1582, just as
Catholic Europe
The Catholic Church in Europe is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See in Rome, including represented Eastern Catholic missions. Demographically, Catholics are the largest religious group in Europe.
Demograph ...
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
, which required the excision of the dates of 5–14 October from the calendar. She died either before midnight of 4 October or early in the morning of 15 October, which is celebrated as her feast day. According to the liturgical calendar then in use, she died on the 15th. Her last words were: "My Lord, it is time to move on. Well then, may your will be done. O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time to meet one another."
After her death
Holy relics
She was buried at the Convento de la Anunciación in
Alba de Tormes
Alba de Tormes is a municipality in the province of Salamanca, western Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The town is on the River Tormes upstream from the city of Salamanca. Alba gave its name to one of Spain's most i ...
. Nine months after her death the coffin was opened and her body was found to be
intact
Intact can refer to:
* An entire building, generally in good condition not dilapidated or ruins
*Intact (group of companies), a Romanian media trust
*''Intact'' (album) and "Intact" (song) by Ned's Atomic Dustbin
*''Intacto'', a film
*Entire (anima ...
but the clothing had rotted. Before the body was re-interred one of her hands was cut off, wrapped in a scarf and sent to Ávila. Gracián cut the little finger off the hand and – according to his own account – kept it with him until it was taken by the occupying
Ottoman Turk
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
s, from whom he had to redeem it with a few rings and 20 reales. The body was exhumed again on 25 November 1585 to be moved to Ávila and found to be incorrupt. An arm was removed and left in Alba de Tormes at the nuns' request, to compensate for losing the main relic of Teresa, but the rest of the body was reburied in the Discalced Carmelite chapter house in Ávila. The removal was done without the approval of the Duke of Alba de Tormes and he brought the body back in 1586, with
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...
ordering that it remain in Alba de Tormes on pain of excommunication. A grander tomb on the original site was raised in 1598 and the body was moved to a new chapel in 1616.
The body still remains there, except for the following parts:
* Rome – right foot and part of the upper jaw
*
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
– hand
*
Ronda
Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...
, Spain – left eye and left hand (the latter was kept by
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
until his death after Francoist troops captured it from Republican troops during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
)
* Museum of the Church of the Annunciation, Alba de Tormes – left arm and heart
* Church of Our Lady of Loreto,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France – one finger
*
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Sanlúcar de Barrameda (), or simply Sanlúcar, is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River opposit ...
– one finger
Canonization
In 1622, forty years after her death, she was
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
by
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV ( la, Gregorius XV; it, Gregorio XV; 9 January 15548 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 to his death in July 1623.
Biography
Early life
Al ...
. The
Cortes
Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to:
People
* Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name
** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador
Places
* Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...
exalted her to
patroness
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of Spain in 1627. The
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...
had granted her the title (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "Doctor of the Church") with a diploma in her lifetime, but that title is distinct from the papal honour of
Doctor of the Church
Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribu ...
, which is always conferred posthumously. The latter was finally bestowed upon her by
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
on 27 September 1970, along with
Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church. ...
, making them the first women to be awarded the distinction. Teresa is revered as the Doctor of Prayer. The mysticism in her works exerted a formative influence upon many theologians of the following centuries, such as Francis of Sales, Fénelon, and the Port-Royalists. In 1670, her coffin was plated in silver.
Teresa of Avila is honored in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...
, the Castilian parliament elected Teresa "without lacking one vote" as copatron saint of Castile. This status was affirmed by
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...
in a brief issued on 21 July 1627 in which he stated:
More broadly, the 1620s, the entirety of Spain (Castile and beyond) debated who should be the country's
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
; the choices were either the current patron,
James Matamoros
Saint James the Moor-slayer ( es, Santiago Matamoros) is the name given to the representation (painting, sculpture, etc.) of the apostle James the Great, as a legendary, miraculous figure who appeared at the also legendary Battle of Clavijo, h ...
, or a pairing of him and the newly canonised Saint Teresa of Ávila. Teresa's promoters said Spain faced newer challenges, especially the threat of Protestantism and societal decline at home, thus needing a more contemporary patron who understood those issues and could guide the Spanish nation. Santiago's supporters (''Santiaguistas'') fought back and eventually won the argument, but Teresa of Ávila remained far more popular at the local level.
James the Great
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
kept the title of patron saint for the
Spanish people
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...
, and the most
Blessed Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
under the title
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
as the sole patroness for the entire
Spanish Kingdom
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
Legacy regarding the Infant Jesus of Prague
The Spanish nuns who established ''Carmel'' in France brought a devotion to the
Infant Jesus
The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12.
The four canonical gospels, a ...
with them, and it became widespread in France.
Though there are no written historical accounts establishing that Teresa of Ávila ever owned the famous
Infant Jesus of Prague
The Infant Jesus of Prague ( cs, Pražské Jezulátko: es, Niño Jesús de Praga) is a 16th-century wax-coated wooden statue of the Child Jesus holding a '' globus cruciger'' of Spanish origin, now located in the Discalced Carmelite Church o ...
statue, according to tradition, such a statue is said to have been in her possession and Teresa is reputed to have given it to a noblewoman travelling to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. The age of the statue dates to approximately the same time as Teresa. It has been thought that Teresa carried a portable statue of the
Child Jesus
The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12.
The four canonical gospels, ...
wherever she went; the idea circulated by the early 1700s.
Writings
Autobiography
The autobiography, ''La Vida de la Santa Madre Teresa de Jesús'' (''The Life of the Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus'') was written between composed at Avila between 1562 and 1565, but published posthumously. Editions include:
* ''The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus ... Written by Herself.'' Translated from the Spanish by D. Lewis, 1870. London: Burns, Oates, & Co
* The ''Autobiography'', written before 1567, under the direction of her confessor, Fr. Pedro Ibáñez, 1882
* ''The Life Of Saint Teresa Of Avila By Herself''. J.M. Cohen, 1957. Penguin Classics
* ''Life of St. Teresa of Jesus''. Translated by Benedict Zimmerman, 1997. Tan Books,
* ''The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of Avila''. Translated by E. Allison Peers, 1991. Doubleday,
* ''The Book of Her Life'', translated, with notes, by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, 2008. Introduction by Jodi Bilinkoff. Indianapolis/Cambridge:
Hackett Publishing Company
Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. is an academic publishing house located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since beginning operations in 1972, Hackett has concentrated mainly on the humanities, especially classical and philosophical texts. Many Hacket ...
,
* ''The Book of My Life''. Mirabai Starr, 2008. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications,
The Way of Perfection
''The Way of Perfection'' ('' es, Camino de Perfección'') was published in 1566. Teresa called this a "living book" and in it set out to teach her nuns how to progress through prayer and
Christian meditation
Christian meditation is a form of prayer in which a structured attempt is made to become aware of and reflect upon the revelations of God. The word meditation comes from the Latin word ''meditārī'', which has a range of meanings including to r ...
. She discusses the rationale for being a Carmelite, and the rest deals with the purpose of and approaches to spiritual life. The title was inspired by the devotional book ''
The Imitation of Christ
''The Imitation of Christ'', by Thomas à Kempis, is a Christian devotional book first composed in Medieval Latin as ''De Imitatione Christi'' ( 1418–1427).''An introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious studies'', by Orlando O. Esp ...
'' (1418) which had become a favourite expression of Teresa much before she wrote this work, as it appeared at several places in her autobiography, ''The Life of Teresa of Jesus''. Like her other books, ''The Way of Perfection'' was written on the advice of her counsellors to describe her experiences in prayer during the period when the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
was spreading through Europe. Herein she describes ways of attaining spiritual perfection through
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
and its four stages, as in
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
,
quiet
Quiet may refer to:
* Silence, a relative or total lack of sound
In music
* The Quiett (born 1985), South Korean rapper
* ''Quiet'' (album), a 1996 John Scofield album
* "Quiet", a song by Lights, from her album '' The Listening'' (2009)
* "Qui ...
, repose of soul and finally perfect
union with God
In Christian theology, divinization ("divinization" may also refer to '' apotheosis'', lit. "making divine"), or theopoesis or theosis, is the transforming effect of divine grace, the spirit of God, or the atonement of Christ. Although it l ...
, which she equates with rapture.
;Editions:
* ''The Way of Perfection''. Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers, Doubleday, 1991.
* ''The Way of Perfection'',
TAN Books
TAN Books is a traditionalist Catholic American book distributor and publisher.
History
TAN Books was founded in 1967, as "TAN Books and Publishers," in Rockford, Illinois by Thomas A. Nelson (not to be confused with the founder of the Bible-pub ...
, 1997.
* ''Way of Perfection'', London, 2012. limovia.net
*''El
Camino de Perfección
Camino may refer to:
Places
*Camino, California, United States, a census-designated place
*Camino, Piedmont, Italy, a town
* Camino, Veneto, Italy, a town
People
* Jaime Camino (1936–2015), Spanish film director and screenwriter
* Renae Cami ...
'' (''The Way of Perfection''), written also before 1567, at the direction of her confessor.
Interior Castle
The ''Interior Castle'', or ''The Mansions'', ('' es, El Castillo Interior'' or ''Las Moradas'') was written in 1577, and published in 1588. It contained the basis for what she felt should be the ideal journey of
faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often ...
, comparing the contemplative
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
to a
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
with seven successive interior courts, or chambers, analogous to the seven mansions. The work was inspired by her vision of the soul as a diamond in the shape of a castle containing seven mansions, which she interpreted as the journey of faith through seven stages, ending with union with God. Fray Diego, one of Teresa's former
confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Christia Mercer
Christia Mercer is an American philosopher and the Gustave M. Berne Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University. She is known for her work on the history of early modern philosophy, the history of Platonism, and the history ...
, Columbia University philosophy professor, claims that the seventeenth-century Frenchman
René Descartes
René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathem ...
lifted some of his most influential ideas from Teresa of Ávila, who, fifty years before Descartes, wrote popular books about the role of philosophical reflection in intellectual growth. She describes a number of striking similarities between Descartes's seminal work ''
Meditations on First Philosophy
''Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated'' ( la, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, in qua Dei existentia et animæ immortalitas demonstratur) is a philosophical treatise ...
'' and Teresa's ''Interior Castle''.
Translations
* The first English translation was published in 1675.
* Fr. John Dalton (1852). John Dalton’s translation of ''The Interior Castle'' contains an interesting preface and translations of other letters by St. Teresa.
* Benedictines of Stanbrook, edited by Fr. Zimmerman (1921). The translation of ''The Interior Castle'' by the Benedictines of Stanbrook also has an excellent introduction and includes many cross-references to other works by St. Teresa.
* E. Allison Peers (1946). E. Allison Peers’ translation of ''The Interior Castle'' is another popular public domain version translated by a professor and scholar of Hispanic studies.
* Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh (1979). This translation also stays true to the text and contains many useful cross-references. A updated study edition contains comprehensive notes, reflection questions and a glossary.
* ''The Interior Castle – The Mansions'',
TAN Books
TAN Books is a traditionalist Catholic American book distributor and publisher.
History
TAN Books was founded in 1967, as "TAN Books and Publishers," in Rockford, Illinois by Thomas A. Nelson (not to be confused with the founder of the Bible-pub ...
, 1997.
* Mirabai Starr (2004). Described as "free of religious dogma, this modern translation renders St. Teresa's work a beautiful and practical set of teachings for seekers of all faiths in need of spiritual guidance. Starr’s interpretive version of ''The Interior Castle'' eliminates Teresa’s use of words such as “sin”, which results in a translation which is more paraphrased than accurate translation.
* ''The Interior Castle - Modern update of the spiritual guide by Teresa of Avila''. by M.B. Anderson, Root Classics (publisher), 2022. .
In popular culture
St. Teresa's mystical experiences have inspired several authors in modern times, but not necessarily from Teresa's Christian theological perspective.
*
The 2006 book ''
Eat, Pray, Love
''Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia'' is a 2006 memoir by American author Elizabeth Gilbert. The memoir chronicles the author's trip around the world after her divorce and what she discovered d ...
'' by
Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert (born July 18, 1969) is an American journalist and author. She is best known for her 2006 memoir, ''Eat, Pray, Love'', which has sold over 12 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also mad ...
recognizes St. Teresa as "that most mystical of Catholic figures" and alludes to St. Teresa's ''Interior Castle'' as the "mansions of her being" and her journey as one of "divine meditative bliss". Gilbert was raised a Protestant Christian, but her book describes her path to God through yoga.
* The 2007 book by American spiritual author
Caroline Myss
Caroline Myss (pronounced ''mace''; born 1952) is an American author of 10 books and many audio recordings about mysticism and wellness. She is most well known for publishing '' Anatomy of the Spirit'' (1996). She also co-published The Creation o ...
''Entering the Castle'' was inspired by St. Teresa's ''Interior Castle'', but still has a
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
approach to mysticism.
* St. Teresa also inspired American author R. A. Lafferty in his novel '' Fourth Mansions'' (1969), which was nominated for the
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
Brooke Fraser
Brooke Gabrielle Ligertwood (née Fraser; born 15 December 1983) better known by her maiden name Brooke Fraser, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter best known for her hit single " Something in the Water", released in 2010. Fraser released two ...
's song "Orphans, Kingdoms" was inspired by St. Teresa's ''Interior Castle''.
*
Jean Stafford
Jean Stafford (July 1, 1915 – March 26, 1979) was an American short story writer and novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for '' The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford'' in 1970.
Biography
She was born in Covina, California, to M ...
's short story 'The Interior Castle' relates the intense preoccupation of an accident victim with her own brain, which she sees variously as a jewel, a flower, a light in a glass and a set of envelopes within envelopes.
*
Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Kent Eugenides (born March 8, 1960) is an American novelist and short story writer. He has written numerous short stories and essays, as well as three novels: ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1993), ''Middlesex'' (2002), and'' The Marriage Plot'' ...
' 2011 novel ''
The Marriage Plot
''The Marriage Plot'' is a 2011 novel by the American writer, Jeffrey Eugenides. The novel grew out of a manuscript that Eugenides began after the publication of his sophomore Pulitizer Prize-winning novel, ''Middlesex.'' Eugenides has stated tha ...
'' refers to St. Teresa's ''Interior Castle'' when recounting the religious experience of Mitchell Grammaticus, one of the main characters of the book.
* Teen Daze's 2012 release "The Inner Mansions" refers to St. Teresa's ''Interior Castle'' in the album's title as well as in the first track. ''"...have mercy on yourselves! If you realize your pitiable condition, how can you refrain from trying to remove the darkness from the crystal of your souls? Remember, if death should take you now, you would never again enjoy the light of this Sun."'' This line appears dubbed over the musical introduction to "New Life."
* In Mark Williamson's "ONE: a memoir" (2018), the metaphor of the Interior Castle is used to describe an inner world of introspective reflection on past events, a set of "memory loci" based on the ancient system of recall for rhetorical purposes.
Other
*''Relaciones'' (''Relationships''), an extension of the autobiography giving her inner and outer experiences in epistolary form.
* Her rare poems (''"Todas las poesías"'',
Munster
Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...
, 1854) are distinguished for tenderness of feeling and rhythm of thought.
* ''The Complete Poetry of St. Teresa of Avila''. A Bilingual Edition – Edición y traducción de Eric W. Vogt.
New Orleans University
New Orleans University was a historically black college that operated between 1873 and 1934 in New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,Juan de Palafox y Mendoza
Juan de Palafox y Mendoza (26 June 1600 – 1 October 1659) was a Spanish politician, administrator, and Catholic clergyman in 17th century Spain and a viceroy of Mexico.
Palafox was the Bishop of Puebla (1640−1655), and the interim Archbisho ...
, Roman Catholic bishop of Osma and an opponent to the Company of Jesus.
* ''The Complete Works of St Teresa of Jesus'', in five volumes, translated and edited by E. Allison Peers, including 2 volumes of correspondence. London:
Sheed and Ward
Sheed and Ward was a publishing house founded in London in 1926 by Catholic activists Frank Sheed and Maisie Ward. The head office was moved to New York in 1933.
The United States assets of Sheed and Ward have been owned by Rowman & Littlefield ...
, 1982.
Mysticism
The ultimate preoccupation of Teresa's mystical thought, as consistently reflected in her writings, is the ascent of the
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
to God. Aumann notes that "the grades of prayer described in ''The Life'' do not correspond to the division of prayer commonly given in the manuals of spiritual life," due to the fact that "St. Teresa did not write a systematic theology of prayer." According to Zimmerman, "In all her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences ..there is no vestige in her writings of any influence of the Areopagite, the Patristic, or the Scholastic Mystical schools, as represented among others, by the German Dominican Mystics. She is intensely personal, her system going exactly as far as her experiences, but not a step further."
Teresa describes in the ''Interior Castle'' that the treasure of heaven lies buried within our hearts, and that there is an interior part of the heart which is the centre of the soul.
Four stages as described in the ''autobiography''
In her autobiography she describes four stages, in which she uses the image of watering one's garden as a metaphor for mystical prayer:
* The first, ''Devotion of the Heart'', consists of
mental prayer
Mental prayer is a form of meditational prayer, "performed without aid of any particular formula." It is distinguished from vocal prayers, "prayers performed by means of a given formula." The aim of mental prayer is 'to inflame souls with the love ...
and meditation. It means the withdrawal of the soul from without,
penitence
Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a par ...
and especially the devout
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
on the passion of Christ (''Autobiography'' 11.20).
* The second, ''Devotion of Peace'', is where human will is surrendered to God. This occurs by virtue of an uplifted awareness granted by God, while other faculties, such as memory, reason, and imagination, are not yet safe from worldly distraction. Although a partial distraction can happen, due to outer activity such as repetition of prayers or writing down spiritual things, the prevailing state is one of quietude (''Autobiography'' 14.1).
* The third, ''Devotion of Union'', concerns the absorption-in-God. It is not only a heightened, but essentially, an
ecstatic
Ecstasy () is a subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of their awareness. In classical Greek literature, it refers to removal of the mind or body "from its normal place of function."
Total involvement with ...
state. At this level, reason is also surrendered to God, and only the memory and imagination are left to ramble. This state is characterized by a blissful peace, a sweet slumber of at least the ''higher soul faculties'', that is a consciousness of being enraptured by the love of God.
* The fourth, ''Devotion of Ecstasy'', is where the consciousness of being in the body disappears. Sensory faculties cease to operate. Memory and imagination also become absorbed in God, as though intoxicated. Body and spirit dwell in the throes of exquisite pain, alternating between a fearful fiery glow, in complete unconscious helplessness, and periods of apparent strangulation. Sometimes such ecstatic transports literally cause the body to be lifted into space. This state may last as long as half an hour and tends to be followed by relaxation of a few hours of swoon-like weakness, attended by the absence of all faculties while in union with God. The subject awakens from this trance state in tears. It may be regarded as the culmination of mystical experience. Indeed, Teresa was said to have been observed levitating during
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
on more than one occasion.
The seven mansions of the Interior castle
The ''Interior Castle'' is divided into seven mansions (also called dwelling places), each level describing a step to get closer to God. In her work, Teresa already assumed entrance into the first mansions by
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
and
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
.
The purgative stage, involving active prayer and
asceticism
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
's state of
grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
, but the souls are surrounded by
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
and only starting to seek God's grace through
humility
Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent ...
in order to achieve perfection.
* The second mansions are also called the ''Mansion of the Practice of Prayer'' because the soul seeks to advance through the castle by daily thoughts of God, humble recognition of God's work in the soul and ultimately daily prayer.
* The third mansions are the Mansions of Exemplary Life characterized through
divine grace
Divine grace is a theological term present in many religions. It has been defined as the divine influence which operates in humans to regenerate and sanctify, to inspire virtuous impulses, and to impart strength to endure trial and resist temptati ...
and a
love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
for God that is so great that the soul has an aversion to both mortal and venial sin and a desire to do works of charitable service to man for the ultimate glory of God. The prayer of acquired recollection belongs to the third mansion.
The illuminative stage, the beginning of mystical or contemplative or supernatural prayer:
* The fourth mansions are a departure from the soul actively acquiring what it gains as God increases his role. In this mansion, the soul begins to experience two types of supernatural prayer, namely the ''Prayer of Supernatural (or passive) Recollection'' and ''The Prayer of Quiet'';
* The fifth mansion is ''The Prayer of Union'', in which the soul prepares itself to receive gifts from God;
Unitive stage:
* The sixth mansion is the betrothal (engagement) of the soul with God can be compared to lovers. The soul spends increasing amounts of time torn between favors from God and from outside afflictions.
* The seventh mansion is the spiritual marriage with God, in which the soul achieves clarity in prayer
Some scholars have compared the seven mansions to the seven chakras in Hindu culture.
Nine grades of prayer
Overview
The first four grades of Teresa's classifications of prayer belong to the ascetical stage of spiritual life. These are vocal prayer, meditational or mental prayer, affective prayer, and acquired or natural recollection.
According to Augustin Poulain and Robert Thouless, Teresa described four degrees or stages of mystical union, namely the
prayer of quiet
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...
, full or semi-ecstatic union, ecstatic union or ecstasy, and transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God. TWhile Augustin Poulain and Robert Thouless don't mention the ''Prayer of Supernatural (or passive) Recollection'' as a separate stage, Aumann discerns infused contemplation as a separate stage in the fourth mansion of the ''Interior Castle''. Together, these "five grades are infused prayer and belong to the mystical phase of spiritual life."
Thomas Merton disagrees on a fine-cut distinction between acquired contemplation and the prayer of quiet, noticing the Carmelite tendency of systematization, whereas Teresa herself was just describing her personal experiences. Commenting on Teresa's writings and the scholarly discussions on the precise stages,
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and giv ...
comments: "with all these divisions and distinctions, comings and goings and varieties of terms, one tends to become impatient with the saint."
Aumann synthesizes Teresa's writings into nine grades of prayer:
Ordinary prayer or ascetical stage
=Mental or meditational prayer
=
Mental prayer is a form of
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
"performed without aid of any particular formula." It is distinguished from vocal prayers, "prayers performed by means of a given formula," Prayer is mental when the thoughts and affections of the soul are not expressed in a previously determined formula.Leen, Edward, ''Progress Through Mental Prayer'' /ref> According to Teresa of Ávila, mental prayer is meditational prayer, in which the person is like a gardener, who, with much labour, draws the water up from the depths of the well to water the plants and flowers. According to Teresa of Avila, mental prayer can proceed by using vocal prayers in order to improve dialogue with God. According to Lehodey, mental prayer can be divided into meditation, more active in reflections, and contemplation, more quiet and gazeful.
=Natural or acquired contemplation - prayer of simplicity
=
For Teresa of Avila, in natural or acquired contemplation, also called the prayer of simplicity there is one dominant thought or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although with little or no development) amid many other thoughts, beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object, leading one to think chiefly of God and of his presence, but in a confused manner.
In the words of Saint
Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosop ...
, acquired contemplation "consists in seeing at a simple glance the truths which could previously be discovered only through prolonged discourse": reasoning is largely replaced by intuition and affections and resolutions, though not absent, are only slightly varied and expressed in a few words. Similarly, Saint
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...
, in his 30-day retreat or
Spiritual Exercises
The ''Spiritual Exercises'' ( la, Exercitia spiritualia), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Soci ...
beginning in the "second week" with its focus on the life of Jesus, describes less reflection and more simple contemplation on the events of Jesus' life. These contemplations consist mainly in a simple gaze and include an "application of the senses" to the events, to further one's empathy for Jesus' values, "to love him more and to follow him more closely."
Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a simple gaze on God and divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and Saint
Francis de Sales
Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...
("a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things").William Johnston, ''The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion'' (Harper Collins 2004 ), p. 24
Natural or acquired contemplation has been compared to the attitude of a mother watching over the cradle of her child: she thinks lovingly of the child without reflection and amid interruptions. The ''
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book for ...
'' states:
Infused or higher contemplation - mystical union
According to Hardon, infused contemplation is "A supernatural gift by which a person's mind and will become totally centered on God. Under this influence the intellect receives special insights into things of the spirit, and the affections are extraordinarily animated with divine love. Infused contemplation assumes the free co-operation of the human will."John Hardon, ''Modern Catholic Dictionary'' /ref> According to Poulain, it is a form of mystical union with God, a union characterized by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests Himself. According to Poulain, mystical grage may also manifestat as visions of the humanity of Christ or an angel or revelations of a future event, and include miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in ecstatics.
In Teresa's mysticism, infused contemplation is described as a "divinely originated, general, non-conceptual, loving awareness of God."Thomas Dubay, ''Fire Within'' (Ignatius Press 1989 ), chapter 5 According to Dubay:
According to
Thomas Dubay
Father Thomas Edward Dubay (December 30, 1921 – September 26, 2010), S.M., was an American Catholic priest, author, and retreat director. He wrote over 20 books on Catholic spirituality, in which he emphasized the importance of renewed conversi ...
, infused contemplation is the normal, ordinary development of discursive prayer (mental prayer, meditative prayer), which it gradually replaces. Dubay considers infused contemplation as common only among "those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life". Other writers view contemplative prayer in its infused supernatural form as far from common.
John Baptist Scaramelli Giovanni Battista Scaramelli (24 November 1687 – 11 January 1752) was an Italian Jesuit, ethicist, and ascetical writer.
Biography
He was born at Rome and died at Macerata in 1752. He entered the Society of Jesus on 21 September 1706. He devoted ...
, reacting in the 17th century against quietism, taught that
asceticism
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
and
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...
are two distinct paths to perfection, the former being the normal, ordinary end of the Christian life, and the latter something extraordinary and very rare. Jordan Aumann considered that this idea of the two paths was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a departure from the traditional Catholic teaching". And
Jacques Maritain
Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aquinas fo ...
proposed that one should not say that every mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations.
=The Prayer of Quiet
=
For Teresa of Avila, the Prayer of Quiet is a state in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
as present.Jordan Aumann Grade 6: Prayer of the Quiet /ref> According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called spiritual quiet when the Divine action is still too weak to prevent distractions: in a word, when the imagination still retains a certain liberty." According to Poulain, in incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quiet or supernatural recollection, the action of God is not strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination still retains a certain liberty.
=Full or semi-ecstatic union
=
According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called ..full union when its strength is so great that the soul is fully occupied with the Divine object, whilst, on the other hand, the senses continue to act (under these conditions, by making a greater or less effort, one can cease from prayer."
=Ecstatic union
=
According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called ..ecstasy when communications with the external world are severed or nearly so (in this event one can no longer make voluntary movement nor energy from the state at will)."
=Transforming union
=
The transforming union differs from the other three specifically and not merely in intensity. According to Poulain, "It consists in the habitual consciousness of a mysterious grace which all shall possess in heaven: the anticipation of the Divine nature. The soul is conscious of the Divine assistance in its superior supernatural operations, those of the intellect and the will. Spiritual marriage differs from spiritual espousals inasmuch as the first of these states is permanent and the second only transitory."
Quotes
Teresa, who reported
visions of Jesus and Mary
Since the Crucifixion of Jesus on Calvary, a number of people have claimed to have had visions of Jesus Christ and personal conversations with him. Some people make similar claims regarding his mother, Mary, who is often known as the Virgin Mary. ...
, was a strong believer in the efficacy of
holy water
Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...
, claiming to have used it with success to repel evil spirits and temptations. She wrote: "I know from frequent experience that there is nothing which puts devils to flight better than holy water."
A modern prayer ''Christ has no body but yours'', though widely attributed to Teresa, is not found in her writings.
Portrayals
Portrayals of Teresa include the following:
Literature
*
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, and even th ...
singles out Teresa as a woman who truly lived life for herself (and perhaps the only woman to do so) in her book ''
The Second Sex
''The Second Sex'' (french: Le Deuxième Sexe, link=no) is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women in the present society as well as throughout all of history ...
''.
* She is mentioned prominently in
Kathryn Harrison
Kathryn Harrison (born March 20, 1961, in Los Angeles, California) is an American author. She has published seven novels, two memoirs, two collections of personal essays, a travelogue, two biographies, and a book of true crime. She reviews regula ...
's novel ''Poison''. The main character, Francisca De Luarca, is fascinated by her life.
*
Don DeLillo
Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...
in ''
End Zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
'' depicted Teresa as a saint who eats from a human skull to remind herself of final things.
* R. A. Lafferty was strongly inspired by ''
El Castillo Interior
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...
'' when he wrote his novel ''Fourth Mansions''. Quotations from St. Teresa's work are frequently used as chapter headings.
*
Pierre Klossowski
Pierre Klossowski (; ; 9 August 1905 – 12 August 2001) was a French writer, translator and artist. He was the eldest son of the artists Erich Klossowski and Baladine Klossowska, and his younger brother was the painter Balthus.
Life
Born in Par ...
prominently features Saint Teresa of Ávila in his metaphysical novel '' The Baphomet''.
*
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
compared Dorothea Brooke to St. Teresa in ''
Middlemarch
''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, ...
'' (1871–1872) and wrote briefly about the life and works of St. Teresa in the "Prelude" to the novel.
*
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
took Saint Teresa as the inspiration for much of the characterisation of the heroine Tess (Teresa) Durbeyfield, in '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' (1891), most notably the scene in which she lies in a field and senses her soul ecstatically above her.
* The contemporary poet
Jorie Graham
Jorie Graham (; born May 9, 1950) is an American poet. The Poetry Foundation called Graham "one of the most celebrated poets of the American post-war generation." She replaced poet Seamus Heaney as Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at ...
features Saint Teresa in the poem ''Breakdancing'' in her volume ''The End of Beauty''.
* Barbara Mujica's novel ''Sister Teresa'', while not strictly hagiographical, is based upon Teresa's life.
*
Pilgrim
A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...
'' features Saint Teresa as a minor character.
*
Vita Sackville-West
Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer.
Sackville-West was a successful novelist, poet and journalist, as wel ...
wrote a double biography contrasting the two Carmelite Theresas, ''The Eagle and the Dove'', re-issued in 2018.
*
Painting and sculpture
*''
Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit
''Saint Teresa of Ávila's Vision of the Holy Spirit'' is a 1612-1614 painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It is now in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.
It shows a vision described by Teresa of Avila in her autobiography and (with two ot ...
'' is a 1612-1614 painting by
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
and is exhibited in the
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at ...
in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
* Another Rubens portrait of Teresa, from 1615, is now in the collection of the
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...
,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
* Saint Teresa was the inspiration for one of Bernini's most famous sculptures, '' The Ecstasy of St. Teresa'' (mid-17th century) in
Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
Santa Maria della Vittoria ( en, Saint Mary of Victory, la, S. Mariae de Victoria) is a Catholic titular church and basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Rome, Italy. The church is known for the masterpiece of Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Corn ...
.
* ''St. Teresa'' was painted in 1819–20 by
François Gérard
François Pascal Simon Gérard (, 4 May 1770 – 11 January 1837), titled as Baron Gérard in 1809, was a prominent French painter. He was born in Rome, where his father occupied a post in the house of the French ambassador, and his mother was It ...
, a French neoclassical painter.
* ''St Theresa of Avila'' is a 1754-1755 painting by
Joseph-Marie Vien
Joseph-Marie Vien (sometimes anglicised as Joseph-Mary Wien; 18 June 1716 – 27 March 1809) was a French painter. He was the last holder of the post of Premier peintre du Roi, serving from 1789 to 1791.
Biography
He was born in Montpellier ...
and is exhibited in the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Drama and film
* Hugh Ross Williamson wrote a play, ''Teresa of Avila'', about her life, which premiered in London in 1961.
* Performance artist Linda Montano has cited Teresa of Ávila as one of the most important influences on her work and since her return to Catholicism in the 2000s has done performances of her life.
* ''Teresa de Jesús (film), Teresa de Jesús'' (1984), directed by Josefina Molina and starring Concha Velasco, is a Spanish made-for-TV mini-series. In it Teresa is portrayed as the determined foundress of new carmelite houses while protecting the Infant Jesus of Prague, infant Jesus statue on her many arduous journeys. The devotion to the Child Jesus spread quickly in Spain, possibly due to her mystical reputation, and then to other places, including France.
* Nigel Wingrove's 1989 short film ''Visions of Ecstasy'' was based on Teresa of Ávila. The film features phantasied sexualised scenes of Teresa with the body of Jesus on the cross. It is the only work to be refused certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) on the grounds of blasphemy.
* Dževad Karahasan. ''The Delighted Angel'' drama about Teresa of Ávila and Rabija al-Adavija, Vienna-Salzburg-Klagenfurt, ARBOS 1995.
* Paz Vega stars as Teresa in ''Teresa, el cuerpo de Cristo'', a 2007 Spanish Biographical film, biopic directed by Ray Loriga.
* Marian Álvarez plays the saint in ''Teresa'', a 2015 Spanish television film directed by Jorge Dorado and made for the 500th anniversary of her birth.
* St. Teresa also features prominently in the 2009 Ron Howard film, ''Angels and Demons'', where the Bernini sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, is an important clue in helping Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) find an anti-matter bomb that is hidden in and set to destroy the Vatican.
Music
* Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed two motets for the feast of Saint Teresa: ''Flores, flores o Gallia'' for two voices, two flutes and continuo (H.374), c. 1680 and the other, for three voices and continuo (H.342), in 1686–87.
* She is a principal character of the opera ''Four Saints in Three Acts'' by the composer Virgil Thomson with a libretto by Gertrude Stein.
* Saint Teresa is the subject of the song "Theresa's Sound-World" by Sonic Youth off the 1992 album ''Dirty (Sonic Youth album), Dirty'', lyrics by Thurston Moore.
* ''Saint Teresa'' is a track on Joan Osborne's ''Relish (album), Relish'' album, nominated for a Grammy Award in 1996.
See also
* Miguel Asín Palacios#Teresa of Ávila, Asín on mystical analogies in Saint Teresa of Avila and Islam
* ''Book of the First Monks''
* Byzantine Discalced Carmelites
* Carmelite Rule of St. Albert
* Constitutions of the Carmelite Order
* Mount Carmel#Canaanites
* Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites
* Saints and levitation
* Portal:Catholicism/Patron Archive/October 15, Saint Teresa of Ávila, patron saint archive
* Spanish Renaissance literature
* ''Teresa de Jesús'', 1984 Spanish language mini-series
* St. Teresa's Church (Hong Kong)
Notes
References
Sources
This article was originally based on the text in the ''Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.''
;Printed sources
* (493 pages) French original
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Further reading
* Carolyn A. Greene. ''Castles in the Sand'' fiction with cited sources about Teresa of Avila Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2009.
* Jean Abiven. ''15 Days of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila'', New City Press, 2011.
*
* Bárbara Mujica, ''Teresa de Ávila: Lettered Woman'', (Nashville, Vanderbilt University Press, 2009).
* E. Rhodes, "Teresa de Jesus's Book and the Reform of the Religious Man in Sixteenth Century Spain," in Laurence Lux-Sterritt and Carmen Mangion (eds), ''Gender, Catholicism and Spirituality: Women and the Roman Catholic Church in Britain and Europe, 1200–1900'' (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011),
* John Thomas, "Ecstasy, art & the body. St. Teresa of Avila's 'Transverberation', and its depiction in the sculpture of Gianlorenzo Bernini" in John Thomas, ''Happiness, Truth & Holy Images. Essays of Popular Theology and Religion & Art'' (Wolverhampton, Twin Books, 2019), pp. 12–16.
* John Thomas, "Architectural image and ''via mystica''. St. Teresa's ''Las Moradas''", in John Thomas, ''Happiness, Truth & Holy Images. Essays of Popular Theology and Religion & Art'' (Wolverhampton, Twin Books, 2019), pp. 39–48.
*
Poems of Saint Teresa * gutenberg:19185, ''Santa Teresa: an Appreciation'', 1900, by Alexander Whyte, from Project Gutenberg
Colonnade Statue St Peter's Square
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teresa Of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila,
1515 births
1582 deaths
16th-century Christian mystics
16th-century Christian saints
16th-century philosophers
16th-century Spanish nuns
16th-century Spanish women writers
16th-century Spanish writers
Angelic visionaries
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Burials in the Community of Castile and León
Canonizations by Pope Gregory XV
Carmelite mystics
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Catholic philosophers
Christian female saints of the Early Modern era
Christian poets
Counter-Reformation
Discalced Carmelite nuns
Doctors of the Church
Early modern Christian devotional writers
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Incorrupt saints
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People from the Province of Ávila
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Stigmatics
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