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Conditioned Perceptions

Frank Graziano

in Wounds of Love: The Mystical Marriage of Saint Rose of Lima

Considers the ways in which sanctity is constructed in folklore, hagiography, iconography, and testimony taken during processes for canonization. Detailed analysis elucidates how an unrealized ideal ... More

Considers the ways in which sanctity is constructed in folklore, hagiography, iconography, and testimony taken during processes for canonization. Detailed analysis elucidates how an unrealized ideal constructed textually serves as the model for aspirants to sanctity, how this prototype becomes a palimpsest as over the centuries new textually constructed lives are embedded, how tautology contributes to perceptions of sanctity, and how true saints are distinguished from impostors. The case material includes saints Catherine of Siena, Mariana of Jesus, and Teresa of Avila, in addition to Rose of Lima.Less

Autobiography of Ana de San Bartolomé

in Autobiography and Other Writings

This chapter presents English translations of Ana de San Bartolomé's autobiography, which offers a glimpse into the nature of monastic life during late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century Spain. ... More

This chapter presents English translations of Ana de San Bartolomé's autobiography, which offers a glimpse into the nature of monastic life during late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century Spain. In her autobiography, Ana describes memories of her childhood, her struggles for the religious vocation, her early relationship with the Carmelites, her becoming a Carmelite, the first steps in her Carmelite life, her love of God and love of others, her time as a companion and nurse to Saint Teresa of Avila, her time at the Discalced Carmelite Convent of Saint Joseph of Avila, her visions and revelations, and her travel to France and Flanders.Less

Penitential Ecstasy: The Dark Night of the Soul

Gananath Obeyesekere

in The Awakened Ones: Phenomenology of Visionary Experience

This chapter analyzes the rich visionary traditions in medieval Christianity. It first analyzes the visions of Julian of Norwich, the first known female author in England. These visions are recorded ... More

This chapter analyzes the rich visionary traditions in medieval Christianity. It first analyzes the visions of Julian of Norwich, the first known female author in England. These visions are recorded in two texts, both of which begin with Julian's wish for three things: a vivid perception of Christ's Passion; bodily sickness; and for God to give her three wounds. It then attempts to understand the symbolic meanings of dryness by interrogating a study on the parallelism between the “holy anorexia” of Christian female religious virtuosos and anorexia nervosa, the neurotic condition afflicting modern-day females. Next, it examines the notion of fasting females and the spiritual nourishment that sustained them through St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582). The remainder of the chapter discusses Margery Kempe, born around 1373, and her unique relation to Jesus, that is, her continual weeping and crying whenever she recollects his Passion.Less

Volume Editor's Introduction

in Autobiography and Other Writings

Ana de San Bartolomé's life and writings reveal much about the situation of religious women in early modern Spain, yet her voice is also unique, the product of specific social circumstances, ... More

Ana de San Bartolomé's life and writings reveal much about the situation of religious women in early modern Spain, yet her voice is also unique, the product of specific social circumstances, individual psychology, and religious fervor. Ana's participation in Saint Teresa of Avila's religious reform of the late sixteenth century became the center of her life and provided an opportunity for self-expression in words and actions normally denied women of her background. Semiliterate when she entered the Discalced Carmelite Convent of Saint Joseph of Avila in 1570, Ana became one of the most prolific writers of the order, although many of her works remained unpublished until well after her death. These works include more than 600 letters, a spiritual autobiography, detailed accounts of the Teresian reform, lectures for younger nuns, and many devotional texts. As companion and nurse to Teresa of Avila, Ana participated in the advance of the Carmelite reform throughout Spain and later was influential in its establishment in France and the Low Countries.Less

European Catholicism (1500–1700)

David W. Kling

in A History of Christian Conversion

The long Catholic Reformation, which lasted from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, is one of the most active, intense, and expansive in the history of Christian conversion. This chapter begins ... More

The long Catholic Reformation, which lasted from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, is one of the most active, intense, and expansive in the history of Christian conversion. This chapter begins with an examination of the conversions of two profoundly influential Catholics from the Iberian Peninsula (Ignatius of Loyola and Teresa of Ávila) and then considers efforts by the religious orders to re-Catholicize Europe. With the Jesuits leading the way, the Church evangelized the masses, drawing them into a personal relationship with God by encouraging the very things Protestants condemned: cults of intercession, pilgrimages, concern with purgatory, feast days, adoration of Christ in the Eucharist, and devotion to the saints. The chapter then moves to a discussion of conversion in the context of religiously mixed communities (Catholics and Protestants) in the Low Countries and France and ends with a discussion of Pierre Bayle’s defense of free conscience as the basis of true conversion.Less

Melancholy Nuns: Teresa of Avila

Jennifer Radden

in The Nature of Melancholy: From Aristotle to Kristeva

This chapter presents Teresa of Avila's discussion of melancholy. A Carmelite nun who lived in Spain between 1515 and 1582, Saint Teresa (or Theresa) of Avila was one of the most remarkable women of ... More

This chapter presents Teresa of Avila's discussion of melancholy. A Carmelite nun who lived in Spain between 1515 and 1582, Saint Teresa (or Theresa) of Avila was one of the most remarkable women of her time. Coming from a wealthy family of Jewish “converse” origins (they had been required to adopt Christianity at the end of the previous century), she entered the Carmelite order in her teens. Teresa possessed several rarely combined talents. She was a mystic and contemplative of great spirituality; she was named Doctor of the Church for her work on prayer and contemplation, which is judged some of the very finest in the tradition of Christian mystical writing. Teresa acknowledges the standard theological explanation of melancholy in terms of demonic influence, yet she seems loath to press this explanation or to burden the suffering person with it. Throughout her discussions on melancholia, Teresa reveals her concern and her ability to distinguish melancholic from related states, and her compassionate yet practical treatment of melancholic experience.Less

Directing Souls

Moshe Sluhovsky

in Becoming a New Self: Practices of Belief in Early Modern Catholicism

The chapter follows the history of the ancient monastic practice of the direction of souls from its inception to early modern Catholicism. It argues that this monastic practice started to gain ... More

The chapter follows the history of the ancient monastic practice of the direction of souls from its inception to early modern Catholicism. It argues that this monastic practice started to gain popularity among lay people during the later Middle Ages, and some religious figures, many of whom were Dominicans, gained fame as outstanding directors. The Direction of souls included the cultivation of intimate one-on-one interactions between the director and the directee, and often led to accusation of improper behavior. But as spiritual exercises of meditation and introspection were also gaining popularity, it was crucially important to supervise devout people and make sure that their spiritual experiences did not derive from demonic temptations and adhered to the church's teachings. Thus, while problematic, the practice became a cornerstone of post-Tridentine religious life, especially of monastic life.Less

Divine Action in the Christian Life in Teresa of Avila

William J. Abraham

in Divine Agency and Divine Action, Volume II: Soundings in the Christian Tradition

In this chapter, the author articulates and examines what Teresa of Avila claims about divine action and human action in the Christian life, or in her terms, the Christian soul. The author pays ... More

In this chapter, the author articulates and examines what Teresa of Avila claims about divine action and human action in the Christian life, or in her terms, the Christian soul. The author pays critical attention to her work The Interior Castle, which charts her journey in grace within the framework of the doctrinal and liturgical life of the church. He notes that there is little treatment of the standard action verbs latent in the tradition, like regeneration, justification, and baptism in the Spirit. This is due to the fact that she is relying not on theological inquiries for her work, but her own personal journey in the church with the help of confessors. Teresa thus expands the horizon of what God can do in the life of the church and in the individual believer.Less

Alternative Visions of the Teresian Heritage: How the Spanish Carmelites Became French

Barbara B. Diefendorf

in Planting the Cross: Catholic Reform and Renewal in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century France

The chapter shows how, within a year after the Discalced Carmelites of Teresa of Avila’s reform were founded in France, opinions diverged on just what constituted an authentic Teresian reform. ... More

The chapter shows how, within a year after the Discalced Carmelites of Teresa of Avila’s reform were founded in France, opinions diverged on just what constituted an authentic Teresian reform. Spanish nuns brought to guarantee the new order’s authenticity found Paris’s convent of the Incarnation too big, too grand, and too ambitious to lead the order’s expansion. They worked to ensure that the second convent, founded outside Paris at Pontoise, conformed more closely to Teresa’s desire to keep the houses small and poor. The chapter uses written records and art to show how nuns at Pontoise created their own vision of an authentic Teresian convent but in doing so provoked a rivalry that threatened at times to divide the rapidly growing French order. The case illustrates well the challenges not just of defining and enacting religious reform but also of adapting reform to local circumstances and values.Less

Meditating on the Meditations: Al-Ghazālī, Teresa of Ávila, Descartes

Taneli Kukkonen

in Oxford Studies in Medieval Philosophy Volume 8

A common thread runs through Descartes’ First Meditation, the opening part of Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle, and al-Ghazālī’s intellectual autobiography The Deliverer from Error. For spiritual ... More

A common thread runs through Descartes’ First Meditation, the opening part of Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle, and al-Ghazālī’s intellectual autobiography The Deliverer from Error. For spiritual and intellectual progress to occur, each of these authors concurs, one must first divest oneself of previously held certainties, even though evil deceivers will try to assault and halt this process. But what could explain the similarities between the three presentations? And are there philosophical lessons to draw from such comparisons, or are al-Ghazālī’s and Teresa’s meditations destined to remain curiosities and marginal as compared to Descartes’? In this article, I show how al-Ghazālī’s use of the same trope twice can point to a fresh consideration of the relation between Teresa and Descartes.Less

Introduction: Enabling Constraints

Tracy McNulty

in Wrestling with the Angel: Experiments in Symbolic Life

This book explores the enabling function of constraints in relation to the psychoanalytic concept of the symbolic. It argues that, in the social and legal spheres, the enabling dimension of ... More

This book explores the enabling function of constraints in relation to the psychoanalytic concept of the symbolic. It argues that, in the social and legal spheres, the enabling dimension of constraint is often overlooked; we tend not to view political or legal constraints as facilitating subjective freedom. The book provides examples that highlight different aspects of law (and especially written law), which is so often posited as antithetical to freedom and free will, as well as constrained practices such as the constraints that structure the experience of psychoanalysis. In this introduction, the role of constraints in sustaining the so-called “experimental” dimension of the symbolic is illustrated with three examples: Lucie Cantin's analysis of the religious practices and institutional reforms of the Spanish mystic Teresa of Ávila, the political philosophy of Jacques Rancière, and the work of contemporary French photographer Sophie Calle as read by Juliet Flower MacCannell.Less

Incarnate Experience

RICHARD KEARNEY and KASCHA SEMONOVITCH

in Phenomenologies of the Stranger: Between Hostility and Hospitality

This chapter deals with different kinds of experiences that pertain to corporeality. It distinguishes between “embodied experience” and “incarnate experience” where the latter includes visitations of ... More

This chapter deals with different kinds of experiences that pertain to corporeality. It distinguishes between “embodied experience” and “incarnate experience” where the latter includes visitations of the vertical or transcendent. This distinction between embodied and incarnate experience is not to advocate any kind of dualism; rather, it is an attempt to be attentive to modes of givenness that are mutually informing but phenomenologically distinct. Unlike embodied experiences, which are “acquired” or “provoked,” incarnate experiences indicate the overtaking of self by a divine Stranger. With detailed histories from three exemplary mystics — Saint Teresa of Avila, Rūzbihān Baqlī, and Rabbi Dov Baer — this chapter presents evidence of the multisensory manifestation of the sacred Other, arguing that mystical sensibility must be understood to include an extra “sense” of balance, harmony, and discernment in addition to the standard five senses.Less

Rivers: Colorado’s Lost Creek Wilderness and Teresa of Ávila

Belden C. Lane

in The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul

There is more to rivers than what we see. They flow in pockets underground as well as above. This hidden area of a river’s flow is its hyporheic zone, a subterranean ecosystem with its own forms of ... More

There is more to rivers than what we see. They flow in pockets underground as well as above. This hidden area of a river’s flow is its hyporheic zone, a subterranean ecosystem with its own forms of life—fungi, insects, and crustaceans that may never see the light of day. This lends the river an added mystery, seen in the Lost Creek Wilderness of Colorado—a stream that surfaces, then disappears again, eleven times on its way through the Rockies. Teresa of Avila was fascinated by water as a symbol of renewal in the spiritual life, offering four ways of watering a garden in dry terrain. “I don’t find anything more appropriate to explain some spiritual experiences than water,” she said. “I am so fond of this element that I’ve observed it more attentively than any other.” For her, the divine presence was alternately visible and invisible, revealed and hidden, an elusive yet ever-running river flowing through the high desert country of her life. It might go for years without breaking the surface, then erupt into effusions of indescribable joy.Less

Sacrifice in Christian Tradition

David L. Weddle

in Sacrifice in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Sacrifice is pervasive in Christian theology and ethics, as the redemptive significance of Christ’s death and as the ideal of self-giving love. Paul emphasizes both meanings in his letters, and the ... More

Sacrifice is pervasive in Christian theology and ethics, as the redemptive significance of Christ’s death and as the ideal of self-giving love. Paul emphasizes both meanings in his letters, and the Gospels of the New Testament focus on the sacrificial death of Christ as the climax of their narratives. The Epistle to the Hebrews interprets Christ’s death as the fulfillment and displacement of Israelite ritual sacrifices for atonement of sins. That approach was opposed by Gnostic Christians who located Christ’s significance in his esoteric knowledge leading to immortality; thus, they regarded martyrdom as foolish. Nevertheless, the dominant Christian view honored martyrs, such as Polycarp and Perpetua, as models of imitation of Christ (imitatio Christi). Sacrifice is the primary category in the orthodox theology of Athanasius and Anselm, but Abelard replaced it with a moral influence theory of atonement. Christian mystics, like Teresa of Avila, appropriated sacrifice as the ideal of self-erasure in union with transcendence. Controversy over the Eucharist erupted in the Protestant Reformation, but the Roman Catholic Church continues to regard it as a sacrifice. Finally, Abelard’s view of Jesus’s death as exerting moral suasion was revived in the theology and social activism of Martin Luther King, Jr.Less

Edith Stein Prayer and Interiority

Terrence C. Wright

in The Phenomenology of Prayer

This chapter examines the role of prayer in the thought of German philosopher Edith Stein, who focuses more on personal than corporate prayer. It reveals that with the use of Teresa of Avila's ... More

This chapter examines the role of prayer in the thought of German philosopher Edith Stein, who focuses more on personal than corporate prayer. It reveals that with the use of Teresa of Avila's imagery of the interior castle, Stein sees prayer as both helping people come to a knowledge of themselves and developing themselves. Stein considers prayer as the response to a call from God that enables people to be who they are and to be in touch with God.Less

A Note on the Translation

in Book for the Hour of Recreation

María de San José Salazar inhabited a historical period and a religious milieu about which many informed twenty-first-century readers of the English-speaking world may “know” a great deal that is ... More

María de San José Salazar inhabited a historical period and a religious milieu about which many informed twenty-first-century readers of the English-speaking world may “know” a great deal that is untrue or incomplete. Another element that may surprise us is the tempered yet trenchant humor with which she describes problematic male clerics. The English translation of her Book for the Hour of Recreation attempts to make readable the purposes and priorities of a book that declares at the outset its many intended functions. Perhaps chiefly, Book for the Hour of Recreation aims to impart information about the exemplary life of María's mentor, Saint Teresa of Avila; to justify and defend the work of Teresa's reform movement; and to offer detailed guidance in the Teresian method of mental prayer. While readers today will approach María's text with different preparation and expectations than those of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of the sixteenth century, the translation contextualizes and clarifies its explicit themes, underlying preoccupations, and manners of expression.Less

Gender and Genre in the Religious Art of the Catholic Enlightenment

Christopher M. S. Johns

in Italy's Eighteenth Century: Gender and Culture in the Age of the Grand Tour

This chapter examines the impact of the Catholic Enlightenment on forms of visual culture in eighteenth-century Rome, and discusses the evolution of religious art in Rome from the late Baroque to the ... More

This chapter examines the impact of the Catholic Enlightenment on forms of visual culture in eighteenth-century Rome, and discusses the evolution of religious art in Rome from the late Baroque to the age of the Grand Tour. It also explores the role of religious women in the culture of Catholic Enlightenment by examining the cases of women saints: Teresa of Avila, Margaret of Cortona, and Catherine of Genoa.Less