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Saint Teresa of Avila Mental Prayer
By Sister Helena of Mary, O.Carm 2009-02-02
The Carmelite Order celebrates the feast of St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila) October 15th. St. Teresa does not need any introduction. She is famous among the laity and a shining luminary in the Catholic Church. She is one of the three women Doctors of the Church, with St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Catherine of Siena, being the other two. She is known as the Reformer of Carmel, along with St. John of the Cross, and founded the Discalced Order of the Carmelite family. The Teresian reform is not the only reform in Carmel. There were other reforms including the Reform of Touraine in France (17th century) and the Mantuan reform in Italy, which effected many changes in the Order. But St. Teresa’s reform was the most well known partly because of her own charismatic personality and widespread influence. She was a very influential woman of her day and collaborated with powerful people .
Interior Castle
October 14th, 2010 by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur
October 15th is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila. A Carmelite nun living in the 1500s, one of her most famous works is “Interior Castle” (known as “The Mansions” in her native Spain) which she wrote at the request of her confessor. A mystic who communed intimately with God, she had experienced a vision of “a most beautiful crystal globe, made in the shape of a castle, and containing seven mansions, in the seventh and innermost of which was the King of Glory, in the greatest splendour, illuming and beautifying them all. . . outside the palace limits everything was foul, dark, and infested with toads, vipers and other venomous creatures.” This castle became Teresa’s metaphor for the soul. Teresa truly believed that anyone who knew what treasures lay in the center of this castle would never want to sin because sin mires the soul in “misery and filth.” “Interior Castle” explores each of the seven mansions in great detail. Her intended audience was the sisters who made up her cloistered religious community, however her insights offer much to the world at large. Read more of this post
The Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Avila
St Teresa of Avila is also the subject of some amazing works of art. There’s a mountain of major works of art featuring her, but let me point you to two of the best. First Peter Paul Rubens painting, Teresa of Avila. The painting features an older St. Teresa with a book and a feather pen in her hand. The feather pen references her writings, including an autobiography that she was forced to pen by her church authorities. As such, St. Teresa was compelled to write down and share her mystical experiences, just do it Tess. And wow, what experiences she had. Her three best books are must reading if you have an interest in spiritual mysticism. Check out The Interior Castle, The Way of Perfection and Teresa of Avila, autobiography.
St Teresa of Avila – ‘The Patron Saint of Hysteria’
Popular Name: St. Teresa of Avila
Country of Birth: Spain
Time-frame: 1515-1582
Claim to fame: Mystical cloistered Discalced Carmelite reformer and nun. Foundress of St. Joseph’s convent in Avila, the first reformed Carmelite convent.Quote: “This prayer is a glorious foolishness, a heavenly madness where the true wisdom is learned; and it is for the soul a most delightful way of enjoying”
Even in the 19th century, when psychiatry was in its infancy, it was obvious to those who read her ‘rambling’ autobiography Teresa was suffering what would now be termed ‘mental health issues’. Sigmund Freud’s colleague, Joseph Breur, dubbing her ‘the patron saint of hysteria’ after finishing her story (an herculean effort in itself, the book being almost unreadable to anyone, in any age, past or present)I’m sure there’s plenty of hospital staff that hears this sort of thing, shortly prior to sedating the patient. The Robbins & Roth Study of 1999 reported 28% of all patients with psychotic symptoms, involved delusions & hallucinations with religious connotations – so we what we see here is not unusual, nor is it divine.
The most popular modern-day diagnosis of Teresa’s mental condition is contained in the pages of ‘Psychology of The Future’ by Stanislav Grof.
1 comments:
There are numerous inaccuracies in your portrayal of St Teresa and Christian mysticism; however, it is your using psycho-analysis, to back-up your criticism of her, which I take exception to: psycho-analysis is considered by many to be a psuedo-science and even – in its “talk cure” – to be akin to the Catholic confessional.
Yes, Bernini’s depiction of St Teresa’s ecstasy – at the paw of an angel – is definitely erotic, as are her writings on the subject, and that’s because mystical prayer is a profound experience of God which those who experience struggle to comprehend let alone describe. But, what you have failed to understand, or at least write about it, is that this ecstasy, like many of the other supernatural “favours” Teresa writes about, isn’t seen by Teresa, or The Church, as an end in itself: such favours have no intrinsic value – they are merely “side-effects” of a deepening prayer life. In fact, if all goes well, these ‘favours’ eventually disappear and one is left, as Teresa was, a better, stronger, happier, and saner human being.