With an informative and extensive introduction covering Teresa's early life, her life as a nun, and her work as a foundress, Kavanaugh sets the stage for a valuable selection of writings from the Saint's works, divided into two sections. The first set centers on Teresa's growth in the spiritual life, particularly her life of prayer. The second part focuses on the copious store of her contemplative experiences which shed light on the Christian mysteries. Also includes a chronology of Teresa's life and a selected bibliography. “Fr. Kavanaugh's excellent introduction to St. Teresa's understanding and experience of Christian contemplation is required reading for anyone desiring a deeper prayer life.” Kevin Culligan, O.C.D. Institute of Carmelite Studies, Chicago, Ill. “Kieran Kavanaugh, who has given us such fine contemporary translations of Teresa, here focuses on the rich content of Teresa's contemplation, seen through a prism of many colors, from the darkness of the abyss to the bright light of the interior Sun.” Tessa Bielecki Author of Teresa of Avila: Mystical Writing.
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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.
