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Teresa of Avila: The Book of Her Foundations: A Study Guide
The Book of Her Foundations is the least read, the least quoted, the least known of St. Teresa's works. Why this is so is probably because people do not think it is a spiritual book. But as you read on, you find that St. Teresa grew in holiness, not in spite of obstacles such as being entangled in lawsuits, mired down in disputes over dowries, tied up in interminable bureaucratic red-tape, and having to deal with unscrupulous businessmen, but because of these difficulties. None of these challenges impeded her spiritual growth. This study guide will help us to see how Teresa grew in holiness in the marketplace as much as in the cloister, perhaps even more so. None of us has been called to found convents, but like Teresa all of us are called to practice virtue and grow in holiness within the fray of daily life.
547 pages, Paperback
Published April 22, 2011
23 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
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Teresa de Ávila
573 books507 followersSaint Teresa of Jesús, also called Saint Teresa of Ávila, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be, along with John of the Cross, a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. In 1970 she was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI.
Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada Borned in Ávila, Spain, on March 28, 1515, St. Teresa was the daughter of a Toledo merchant and his second wife, who died when Teresa was 15, one of ten children. Shortly after this event, Teresa was entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns. After reading the letters of St. Jerome, Teresa resolved to enter a religious life. In 1535, she joined the Carmelite Order. She spent a number of relatively average years in the convent, punctuated by a severe illness that left her legs paralyzed for three years, but then experienced a vision of "the sorely wounded Christ" that changed her life forever.
From this point forward, Teresa moved into a period of increasingly ecstatic experiences in which she came to focus more and more sharply on Christ's passion. With these visions as her impetus, she set herself to the reformation of her order, beginning with her attempt to master herself and her adherence to the rule. Gathering a group of supporters, Teresa endeavored to create a more primitive type of Carmelite. From 1560 until her death, Teresa struggled to establish and broaden the movement of Discalced or shoeless Carmelites. During the mid-1560s, she wrote the Way of Perfection and the Meditations on the Canticle. In 1567, she met St. John of the Cross, who she enlisted to extend her reform into the male side of the Carmelite Order. Teresa died in 1582.
St. Teresa left to posterity many new convents, which she continued founding up to the year of her death. She also left a significant legacy of writings, which represent important benchmarks in the history of Christian mysticism. These works include the Way of Perfection and the Interior Castle. She also left an autobiography, the Life of St. Teresa of Ávila.
Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada Borned in Ávila, Spain, on March 28, 1515, St. Teresa was the daughter of a Toledo merchant and his second wife, who died when Teresa was 15, one of ten children. Shortly after this event, Teresa was entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns. After reading the letters of St. Jerome, Teresa resolved to enter a religious life. In 1535, she joined the Carmelite Order. She spent a number of relatively average years in the convent, punctuated by a severe illness that left her legs paralyzed for three years, but then experienced a vision of "the sorely wounded Christ" that changed her life forever.
From this point forward, Teresa moved into a period of increasingly ecstatic experiences in which she came to focus more and more sharply on Christ's passion. With these visions as her impetus, she set herself to the reformation of her order, beginning with her attempt to master herself and her adherence to the rule. Gathering a group of supporters, Teresa endeavored to create a more primitive type of Carmelite. From 1560 until her death, Teresa struggled to establish and broaden the movement of Discalced or shoeless Carmelites. During the mid-1560s, she wrote the Way of Perfection and the Meditations on the Canticle. In 1567, she met St. John of the Cross, who she enlisted to extend her reform into the male side of the Carmelite Order. Teresa died in 1582.
St. Teresa left to posterity many new convents, which she continued founding up to the year of her death. She also left a significant legacy of writings, which represent important benchmarks in the history of Christian mysticism. These works include the Way of Perfection and the Interior Castle. She also left an autobiography, the Life of St. Teresa of Ávila.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 23, 2024
In his Introduction to St. Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Foundations, A Study Guide, Fr. Marc Foley, O.C.D. makes three main points:
1) Of St. Teresa of Avila’s four major works, Teresa of Avila: The Book of Her Life, The Way of Perfection, Interior Castle, and The Book of Her Foundations, the last is the least read, quoted and known. Fr. Foley does not know why this is so but speculates it is because Teresa’s teaching on prayer and the spiritual life is more systematically and fully set forth in her first three works. He wondered also if readers would get bogged down and/or bored by the numerous names and historical details in her writing about so many unfamiliar places and people contained in this somewhat lengthy narrative.
2) However, what he learned as he read through her text—and I saw as well—is that this is so much more than just a dry recounting of foundings. Yes, we do follow Teresa on her journeys, but as always with this lively saint, she offers us many interesting digressions which reflect her deepening spirituality. Father mentions her growth in Patience, the first requirement St. Paul said is necessary for the Theological virtue of Charity. Teresa was certainly offered many opportunities to practice that virtue as she dealt with angry townspeople, reluctant bishops, stingy benefactors, greedy merchants, jealousy from other religious orders and (most disheartening of all!) rebellion or backsliding from within her own order.
3) Fr. Foley said this book could be subtitled, “The Spirituality of the Long Haul” and can be read from two perspectives: 1) either as a historical account of the establishment of her convents or 2) as a spiritual narrative. It is more profitable in the second perspective, which is the way I mostly read it, although I still drew much useful historical information from the text as well. After each chapter of Teresa’s text, we are given a three-part chapter of commentary by Fr. Foley which breaks down the text as follows: Part one is a Summary and Background of the chapter, supplemented by historical information derived from various sources. Part two contains Reflections on either passage found in the chapter under consideration or on the Background material referred to in the Summary. Part three consists of Questions for Reflection. Condsidering my unfamiliarity with Spain, especially during this era, I found Parts one and two invaluable!
My personal favorite parts of Teresa’s writing were her Counsels to Prioresses, Counsels on Prayer and the stories of how she managed the various difficult situations in which she found herself. One in particular I liked was between her friend, the bishop of Palencia, who she had asked to intercede with the archbishop of Burgos for the convent they were trying to establish in his city. The two clerics were friends, but the bishop of Palencia (Teresa’s friend) was disgusted with how the proud archbishop was treating Teresa and her nuns and wrote a scathing letter to him which Teresa knew would only make the situation worse. She had to ask him to write another more diplomatic (we might use another word!) letter, which he did, though he didn’t want to. This finally resolved the crisis, and the establishment of the monastery went through. There were other stories like this but none quite so clearcut as I can relate so easily.
Teresa’s ‘Counsels’ in this text I have not read elsewhere and are extremely valuable. They are addressed to prioresses but applicable to all, especially those concerning mortification. Teresa here establishes herself as the wise moderate, recognizing that not all are called to the total NADA of John of the Cross, however holy he is and true his spirituality is as well.
At the very end, Teresa expresses her own longing to return to the Joy and Peace of the cloister that she has spent the last fifteen years of her life fighting to attain for others:
Thank you, dear Holy Mother, for what you did for all of us, Carmelites, friars, nuns and seculars. We are forever in your debt! I write this poor review in your honor and humble gratitude to you and all you sacrificed for us. I pray you are enjoying that Great Light now and ask Him to shine some of It down on your children that we may live as you modeled and not be too great an embarrassment to you. Santa Teresa, pray for us!
Sept 19, 2024: I did not realize that every single one of her foundations presented her with huge and often seemingly insurmountable obstacles. What she suffered! And all this AFTER she was Christ's "Bride", after her Union with Christ. Those desiring mystical experiences, great favors from God, need to read this! As she says, "If this is how You treat Your friends, O, LORD, no wonder You have so few!" She knew what she was talking about! It is amazing that she was able to overcome so many difficult personalities, so much human envy, greed, stubbornness, bad weather, bureaucratic red tape, etc. She could not have done it on her own as she frequently attests, but only by His Grace. For even as He gave her difficulties, He also gave Her the Grace to overcome them. Still reading ... in joyful amazement!
1) Of St. Teresa of Avila’s four major works, Teresa of Avila: The Book of Her Life, The Way of Perfection, Interior Castle, and The Book of Her Foundations, the last is the least read, quoted and known. Fr. Foley does not know why this is so but speculates it is because Teresa’s teaching on prayer and the spiritual life is more systematically and fully set forth in her first three works. He wondered also if readers would get bogged down and/or bored by the numerous names and historical details in her writing about so many unfamiliar places and people contained in this somewhat lengthy narrative.
2) However, what he learned as he read through her text—and I saw as well—is that this is so much more than just a dry recounting of foundings. Yes, we do follow Teresa on her journeys, but as always with this lively saint, she offers us many interesting digressions which reflect her deepening spirituality. Father mentions her growth in Patience, the first requirement St. Paul said is necessary for the Theological virtue of Charity. Teresa was certainly offered many opportunities to practice that virtue as she dealt with angry townspeople, reluctant bishops, stingy benefactors, greedy merchants, jealousy from other religious orders and (most disheartening of all!) rebellion or backsliding from within her own order.
3) Fr. Foley said this book could be subtitled, “The Spirituality of the Long Haul” and can be read from two perspectives: 1) either as a historical account of the establishment of her convents or 2) as a spiritual narrative. It is more profitable in the second perspective, which is the way I mostly read it, although I still drew much useful historical information from the text as well. After each chapter of Teresa’s text, we are given a three-part chapter of commentary by Fr. Foley which breaks down the text as follows: Part one is a Summary and Background of the chapter, supplemented by historical information derived from various sources. Part two contains Reflections on either passage found in the chapter under consideration or on the Background material referred to in the Summary. Part three consists of Questions for Reflection. Condsidering my unfamiliarity with Spain, especially during this era, I found Parts one and two invaluable!
My personal favorite parts of Teresa’s writing were her Counsels to Prioresses, Counsels on Prayer and the stories of how she managed the various difficult situations in which she found herself. One in particular I liked was between her friend, the bishop of Palencia, who she had asked to intercede with the archbishop of Burgos for the convent they were trying to establish in his city. The two clerics were friends, but the bishop of Palencia (Teresa’s friend) was disgusted with how the proud archbishop was treating Teresa and her nuns and wrote a scathing letter to him which Teresa knew would only make the situation worse. She had to ask him to write another more diplomatic (we might use another word!) letter, which he did, though he didn’t want to. This finally resolved the crisis, and the establishment of the monastery went through. There were other stories like this but none quite so clearcut as I can relate so easily.
Teresa’s ‘Counsels’ in this text I have not read elsewhere and are extremely valuable. They are addressed to prioresses but applicable to all, especially those concerning mortification. Teresa here establishes herself as the wise moderate, recognizing that not all are called to the total NADA of John of the Cross, however holy he is and true his spirituality is as well.
At the very end, Teresa expresses her own longing to return to the Joy and Peace of the cloister that she has spent the last fifteen years of her life fighting to attain for others:
‘No one but those who experience it will believe the joy that is felt in these foundations once we are enclosed where no secular person can enter, for however much we love them it is not enough to take away this great consolation in finding ourselves alone. It seems to me comparable to taking many fish from the river with a net; they cannot live until they are in the water again. So it is with souls accustomed to living in the running streams of their Spouse. When taken out of them and caught up in the net of worldly things, they do not truly live until they find themselves back in those waters.You can hear her longing in these words and realize what a great sacrifice her work has been, greater even than all her other sufferings. And yet as she also said elsewhere, “In the light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.”
Thank you, dear Holy Mother, for what you did for all of us, Carmelites, friars, nuns and seculars. We are forever in your debt! I write this poor review in your honor and humble gratitude to you and all you sacrificed for us. I pray you are enjoying that Great Light now and ask Him to shine some of It down on your children that we may live as you modeled and not be too great an embarrassment to you. Santa Teresa, pray for us!
Sept 19, 2024: I did not realize that every single one of her foundations presented her with huge and often seemingly insurmountable obstacles. What she suffered! And all this AFTER she was Christ's "Bride", after her Union with Christ. Those desiring mystical experiences, great favors from God, need to read this! As she says, "If this is how You treat Your friends, O, LORD, no wonder You have so few!" She knew what she was talking about! It is amazing that she was able to overcome so many difficult personalities, so much human envy, greed, stubbornness, bad weather, bureaucratic red tape, etc. She could not have done it on her own as she frequently attests, but only by His Grace. For even as He gave her difficulties, He also gave Her the Grace to overcome them. Still reading ... in joyful amazement!
September 5, 2021
Santa Teresa de Jesús, a instancias de sus confesores, escribió esta relación en la que narra los acontecimientos en torno a la fundación de diversos conventos de Carmelitas descalzas.
Prescindiendo de sus aspectos religiosos, nos encontramos ante una narración muy interesante, que de manera discreta facilita mucha información acerca de las relaciones económicas y políticas de la España de su tiempo. Y además, contado con gran eficacia y pulso, involucrando directamente al lector.
Buena compañía para mi experiencia de este verano.
Prescindiendo de sus aspectos religiosos, nos encontramos ante una narración muy interesante, que de manera discreta facilita mucha información acerca de las relaciones económicas y políticas de la España de su tiempo. Y además, contado con gran eficacia y pulso, involucrando directamente al lector.
Buena compañía para mi experiencia de este verano.
October 1, 2021
una monja que explica sus movidas con dios en castellano del siglo XVI
pos muy chuli
pos muy chuli
December 11, 2024
Es un GRAN LIBRO… Yo creo que este es una gran manera de empezar a leer a Santa Teresa. Igual “Libro de la Vida” pero este tiene muchas anécdotas muy ricas. Obviamente el español castellano es difícil, pero te empiezas a acostumbrar.
February 16, 2011
Jesus said to be "Wise as serpents and innocent as doves" and this really applies to St. Teresa of Avila
As she was spreading new foundations of monasteries for both men and women of the Carmelite reform that resulted in the Discalced Carmelites she really gave what Jesus said meaning.
These foundation ran into plenty of obstacles from day one from both the laity, the clergy, and the episcopate. Many were bothered by this order and the means in which they lived and that they had no steady income to ensure the success of the order. Some things never change and starting a new foundation even if it was in a donated house took plenty of paperwork and permissions from the civil government and the local ordinary. Add into that the opposition from Satan who certainly did not want a reformed order that had thrown of the relaxations of religious life at this time and of course the number of new tabernacles hosting the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Teresa tells of these troubles while praising those who helped in the foundations and never loosing sight that this was a work of Jesus and that whatever she did it was primarily His work. Here descriptions of the people involved are quite interesting and almost all positive. Even those who opposed the work were shown favorably in the light of Divine providence. The book is also written with good humor.
I've read the majority of St. Teresa's writings and this book gives expansion to her autobiography with additional details and insights into her spiritual life. The praise she gives is of others while knocking down her own inefficiencies and lack of response to grace.
As she was spreading new foundations of monasteries for both men and women of the Carmelite reform that resulted in the Discalced Carmelites she really gave what Jesus said meaning.
These foundation ran into plenty of obstacles from day one from both the laity, the clergy, and the episcopate. Many were bothered by this order and the means in which they lived and that they had no steady income to ensure the success of the order. Some things never change and starting a new foundation even if it was in a donated house took plenty of paperwork and permissions from the civil government and the local ordinary. Add into that the opposition from Satan who certainly did not want a reformed order that had thrown of the relaxations of religious life at this time and of course the number of new tabernacles hosting the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Teresa tells of these troubles while praising those who helped in the foundations and never loosing sight that this was a work of Jesus and that whatever she did it was primarily His work. Here descriptions of the people involved are quite interesting and almost all positive. Even those who opposed the work were shown favorably in the light of Divine providence. The book is also written with good humor.
I've read the majority of St. Teresa's writings and this book gives expansion to her autobiography with additional details and insights into her spiritual life. The praise she gives is of others while knocking down her own inefficiencies and lack of response to grace.
February 16, 2020
4To. libro de mi diplomado
March 30, 2024
Relato de las fundaciones de conventos de carmelitas descalzas. Sumamente interesante.
Read
January 12, 2026se me hace raro ponerle estrellas a santa teresa la vd, pero me ha encantao leerla
April 9, 2023
Libro de no picción, sobre la fundación de distintas iglesias a lo largo de España.
Escrito de una forma directa y sin ornamentación, aquí se puede ver claramente cómo era la vida religiosa del siglo XVI y cómo estaba afectada a lo alrgo de todo el país socialmente por distintas cuestiones.
Por momentos la narración es muy simple y amena, pero en otros momentos, se vuelve verbosa y sin contenido casi, produciendo un efecto casi anesteciante al leer.
No es un libro de gran interes popular, pero si puede interesar a personas con inclinaciones religiosas o por interes histórico sobre la religión en el siglo nombrado.
Gracias, Santa Teresa de Jesús, por escribir esta obra biográfica hasta los últimos días de tu vida.
Escrito de una forma directa y sin ornamentación, aquí se puede ver claramente cómo era la vida religiosa del siglo XVI y cómo estaba afectada a lo alrgo de todo el país socialmente por distintas cuestiones.
Por momentos la narración es muy simple y amena, pero en otros momentos, se vuelve verbosa y sin contenido casi, produciendo un efecto casi anesteciante al leer.
No es un libro de gran interes popular, pero si puede interesar a personas con inclinaciones religiosas o por interes histórico sobre la religión en el siglo nombrado.
Gracias, Santa Teresa de Jesús, por escribir esta obra biográfica hasta los últimos días de tu vida.
September 22, 2022
I treasure this book for the simple and direct language and the beauty and loftiness of her ideas. This was truly a wonderful read, but I had to reread it a few times. Each time, I gained new insight. It is not about a fancy tale, but about a real desire to be close to God and what it takes to get to the point where you feel God is within as without.
Read
May 10, 2022Здравейте, харесвам тази книга и съм писала отзиви за нея, но искам да поправя една неточност. Не зная кой е качил информацията в Goodreads, но държа да подчертая, че АЗ НЕ СЪМ ПРЕВОДАЧ НА "Книга за основанията". Моля авторът на поста да поправи тази грешка. С уважение, Марион Колева
July 26, 2022
This really isn't a book you can rate, therefore 3 stars.
June 23, 2024
This book provides insight into the way St. Theresa of Avila lived her Christian faith as she trusted in God while overcoming numerous challenges as she founded 17 convents. The English translation is by Kieran Kavanaugh O.C.D. and Otilio Rodriquez O.C.D. This study guide edition, edited by Marc Foley O.C.D., contains for each chapter a summary and background, reflections, and questions which provide very helpful information from Theresa’s other writings which help create a fuller picture as well as showing the relevance to our own struggles. The study guide edition made the writing much more accessible for me. I appreciated the numerous references as well.
If Marc Foley were ever to revise this study guide, I would be interested in reading his discussion of Dona Catalina de Cordona in chapter 28.
If Marc Foley were ever to revise this study guide, I would be interested in reading his discussion of Dona Catalina de Cordona in chapter 28.
May 24, 2012
Some interesting info, not an easy read.
Read
January 6, 2023clásicos españoles e hispanoamericanos hasta el siglo XVIII / literatura / literatura clásica / narrativa clásicos españoles hasta el siglo XVIII / colmenar estudio estantería derecha 5ª balda
August 31, 2024
Tiene una prosa bellísima.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews