The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Ávila, Vol. 1

The Collected Works in 3 vol.

by Teresa de Ávila, Kieran Kavanaugh (Translator), Otilio Rodríguez (Translator)

This is the second edition of Volume One of The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, first woman doctor of the church. The translators have taken full advantage of all that recent scholarship has contributed to a better understanding of Teresa and her writings. This volume includes her first major work, The Book of Her Life, and two of her shorter works, the Spiritual Testimonies and the Soliloquies. Clear and contemporary, this rendering captures Teresa's spirit while remaining faithful to her thought. Includes general and biblical index.

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, Christian, Theology, Catholic, Christianity, Faith

517 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Saint 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.

Reviews

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite book by St. Teresa, but definitely has portions worth reading. The first ten or so chapters about her life are nearly as good as St. Augustine's Confessions; the next dozen or so chapters concerning the types of prayer and comparing them to watering a garden are also worth pondering, though the last methods are beyond my experience, and since the chapters after that focus on these deeply contemplative experiences I admit much went over my head. Didn't finish reading beyond Chapter 27, but that's not because St. Teresa is wrong so much as that she went to places I can't understand. The good news: understanding such things isn't necessary, and one of the reasons I like St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross so much is that they emphasize that these mystical prayers are neither necessary nor earned.

Anyway, certainly found good material to meditate upon here. The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle were more profitable to me, though, and I'll probably return to them shortly.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has Teresa's autobiography. It is very interesting but kind of wordy, lots of tangents, and reflections. It makes it sometimes hard to follow. Worth a read, but I read it along a biography which helped me track what was going on, without getting lost in her descriptions.

The vividness of her visions and experiences of prayer, makes this book a delight to read. The fact that her early confessors thought she was possessed shows their struggle to come to terms with a woman whose prayer life was unlike anything they had ever seen. She saw Jesus (or felt his presence) heard voices, fought off devils with holy water, had a vision of hell, levitated, and was frequently lost in contemplation of God.

Kind of makes you wonder what your impression of this woman would be if you met her

[FR ADRIAN G HEAD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

St Teresa of Avila's writings are of immense help for those who want to advance very much in the spiritual life

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mystics are atheists without knowing it".---David Hume

St. Teresa's tiny village home in Avila, Spain is an obligatory stop for all visitors to Iberia, myself included. The simplicity and dryness of her quarters clue you in that once this place was occupied by someone who devoted her life to thought; in this case one thought, Jesus. "My Lord I would love you even if you did not promise me eternal life." Her soliloquies, prayer books, letters and attempts at poetry are still worth reading, even by atheists, to explore the mind of a soul who brooked no interference between herself and her savior, all the while keeping her humility. "Purity of essence is to will one thing". ---Soren Kierkegaard. St. Teresa embodied what the American philosopher William James once wrote about prayer: "Prayer is more important than to whom prayer is addressed and for the sake of prayer it does not really matter whether God exists". A skeptic might call her a fanatic. An agnostic praises her will power while withholding judgement on the content of her thought. She might even be classified as a pre-mature feminist. No matter your convictions, these musings move beyond religion and into the realm of experiencing what the poet Anne Sexton called "the awful rowing towards God". It's the rowing that counts, not God.

[booklady]

Reading The Book of Her Life. I have only listened to it before and then only in an abbreviated version. Comparing it to the version of her life found in St. Teresa of Avila Three Book Treasury - Interior Castle, The Way of Perfection, and The Book of Her Life. Throughout St. Teresa of Avila Way of Perfection: Study Edition, she mentions this, her earlier book. It seems I need to be intimately familiar with this to gain the most from Way.

[didi · Rating 4 out of 5]

At other times it gives me great pain to have to eat and sleep and to see that I more than anyone cannot give up these actions. I perform them to serve God, and so I offer them to Him. It seems to me that all time is short and that I don't have enough for prayer, for I never tire of being alone. I always want to have time to read because I have been very fond of reading. I read very little, for in picking up a book I become recollected in my contentment, and so the time for reading passes in prayer. This time amounts to little, for I have many duties; and though they are good, they do not provide me with the satisfaction reading does. So I go about always wanting time, and the awareness that what I want and desire is not granted is that which, I think, makes everything insipid to me.

[Melanie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this slowly - a few pages only per day, so as to try to digest some of the reflections. I feel I have got to know a little about St Teresa - I like the way she is so meditative and then at times so down to earth. As a woman writer and an innovator, St Teresa clearly had to tread carefully in the material world, given the times in which she lived. She sounds much more comfortable with the spiritual.
St Teresa encourages us to keep praying even whilst we are aware that we are far from angelic. We should keep trying and be thankful for God's grace. I look forward to reading Volume 2.

[Jeffrey A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saint Teresa wrote the book of her Life under obedience to her confessor. It describes her struggles, visions and ecstasies, prayer life and of course biography. Because mental prayer was held in high suspicion at the time (lots of witchcraft and occult practitioners trying to lure people) one of her nuns reported St Teresa to the Spanish Inquisition. She welcomed this inspection as she did not want to write anything in doctrinal error. The process instead further bolstered her reputation for holiness and wisdom.

[Michael Jacobus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any Catholic

There is a reason that Teresa is a saint and a doctor of the church. She knows Jesus in an intimate way and wants to share him with all. It’s funny all we need to do is pray but we find it very hard. Teresa reveals how easy it is to pray and she helps us along the way.

[Jeffrey N. Hora · Rating 5 out of 5]

While keeping in mind the historical context and personal experiences of Teresa, I found myself being drawn into her world as she expressed it. Having finished this volume, I feel like I've finished the letters and writing of someone I've grown to know and appreciate.

Not the easiest of reads, but worth it.

[John Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kavanaugh and Rodriguez also did a collection for St. John of the Cross. They do a great job.

This collection of St. Teresa de Avila is fascinating, as it reveals a lot of the person that was St. Teresa, much of which I wasn't aware.

[SunkistJockey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Used for Song of Songs Meditations

[Rob Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very impressed by Teresa and her dedication to prayer and God as well as to her community. The power of contemplation to guide actions, both of herself and others, is clearly evident. It challenges my thinking the contemplation is inaction as she supported and guided many people through difficult times and headed to contemplative prayer in her own difficulties. I struggle with some of her mysticism and don't expect that I would experience many of the things she experienced. However, I learned a lot that I hope to put into practice in hearing and obeying the voice of God.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

St. Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun and mystic during the time of the Counter Reformation. Within the Carmelite Order, she was also a reformer and the initiator of the movement that eventually led to the Discalced Carmelites. She was joined in this movement by St. John of the Cross, but in reality, neither of them were alive when the Discalced Carmelites separated from the regular Carmelite Order. She died in 1582 and was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. In 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. Some of her best known works include The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle. However, she wrote much more than this. ICS Publications has published a three-volume set of her collected works. Today, I am going to tell you about Volume One.

The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila: Volume One is a 500+ page translation by Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh and Fr. Otilio Rodriguez. The book contains the following three works - The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies, and Soliloquies. The Book of Her Life begins with a very thorough introduction by Fr. Kavanaugh. This introduction contains background information on her, the times she lived during, her first spiritual directors, the style and nature of her book, main ideas of the book, and information on the new translation. The basic structure of the book consists of four parts - 1. Sins, graces, and vocations (10 chapters), 2. Treatise on degrees of prayer (12 chapters), 3. Mystical life (9 chapters), and Effects (9 chapters). Her autobiography is very personable and conversational in tone.

The Spiritual Testimonies are arranged chronologically and serve to complement her autobiography. In these writings, we get a glimpse into her soul and spiritual character at different points in her life. However, the section of this volume that spoke to me the most was her Soliloquies. I know I should have read through this section more slowly, but I could not put it down. This section is very intimate and focuses on topics such as separation from God, longing for God, wounds of love, and how people who withdraw from God are sick. After reading through them once, I immediately decided to slow down and read them more slowly the second time through.

Reading through the words of the saints is always an eye-opening experience. It always reveals to me how close they were to God and how far away I am. The remarkable thing is that due to their extreme humility they did not see themselves as saintly or close to God. I look forward to reading the next volume in this series.

[Aaron]

Not for me...maybe I'm just not there. Maybe I won't ever be. Either way, I have tons of stuff I'd rather read at this point.