"I believe we can both sing the same song, though in a different way."

books:

	• The Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila: The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus St Teresa of Avila Tan Books & Publishers, 1997 - 516 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"I believe we can both sing the same song, though in a different way."

I am nearly hesitant to write about this book, because I am afraid that it disappointed me. Interior Castle is one of my favorite books of any kind and was/is very important to my life and I honestly fully expected the Life to be the same. Unfortunately, I found it much more difficult to read and rather formless. Worse (and I suppose that this could have been down to the translation) I nearly disliked her from the tone of the work. And that is too bad.

Important to stress that I still got a lot from the reading experience, so it may be that it was just the wrong time for me and that I will be more receptive later. It is certainly an important book and I can see the value. Her discussion about the stages of prayer is more explicit in the Life than it is in Interior Castle. Personally, I found the metaphor of the mansions more meaningful but it may simply be that having read the other book first I found it difficult to let go of the comparison.

Certainly, Theresa of Avila is an important writer-- should be read by anyone with an interest in women's autobiography, spirituality, prayer, or the history of the Christian church.

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Correction of previous review

The previous review for this book was obviously misplaced here, as this is the version by E. Allison Peers! I also noticed this same review listed under another translation of this work, where it was clearly intended to be. So unless I am missing something here, I suggest people ignore this mistaken review.

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cosmic consciousness

Want to read what it is like to be enlightened? I first read in 1971 and has remained ever since an inspiration for the purpose of life. Transcends Catholicism by describing the universality of higher consciousness.

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

I've always marvelled at Bernini's statue, Ecstasy of St. Teresa, which seems to precede art deco by centuries. Since this Penguin edition shows it on the cover, I was naturally drawn to this book. Having cracked the cover, however, I couldn't put it down; it's gripping, amusing and eminently readable--everything we know so-called devotional literature is not.

Post-moderns will find in this sixteenth century nun a like-minded comrade, as unlikely as that may seem. We, or at least, I could relate far more to her failures than successes, and there's an almost slapstick, which is to say light-heartedness running through these memoirs that has more in common with I Love Lucy than sentimental religious literature. The best known incident is when a horse threw her and she landed in a mud puddle. She looked up to heaven and said, "if that's the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few of them."

If that doesn't make you want to read this book, what would? Completely against the tenet of modernism that everything is always progressing and "every day in every way we're getting better and better," here's a kindred soul from the sixteenth century who many readers will instantly relate to. Another way to view this book is as an exercise in journaling, which many people find more difficult than it sounds. Teresa was ordered to write her memoirs, not unlike students in an English class who find it so difficult to think of anything to write about.

This book may not be to everyone's taste. But I would recommend it to readers who, like myself, are absolutely allergic to sentimental and devotional literature. I found it delightfully different and would group it with the few "classics" in this genre I have enjoyed, including Pascal's Pensees, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and St. Augustine's Confessions.

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A life of no ordinary woman or meekness rewarded

I recommend this book, preferably a different edition, to those who are looking for a Christian relationship with God. The mystic nun of 16th century Spain, you can think anything you want of her, but she ain't ordinary. The spiritual experiences that "befell her is the central theme of the book" (intro. p.13). Her relationship with our Lord is honest and humble, sincere as any testimony that you'll ever hear. The way to approach this story is with respect, and also with humbleness, for that is the way she also approaches us.

I noticed a little bias in the introduction by J.M.Cohen. Or maybe he doesn't have the facts right: "In the very cities where they (Teresa and John of the Cross) walked Mohammedan mystics, less narrow and exclusive in their beliefs than they, had flourished in the days of the Moorish emirates." This is simply untrue. Very much more narrow and exclusive, Mister. Read you Spanish history well (see my listmania). No need of political correctness when we all know how Muslims always have treated Christians (go and live even today in a "tolerant" Muslim country).

Teresa's life is a great testimony for all denominations of Christians. Yes, she was a Catholic, and you will find the Catholic theology sprinkled everywhere; but most importantly she was real, I mean a real Christian. And if you read the text without prejudice -not like the Pharisees would ask Jesus- you will find prove of this. Her relationship is with the Lord, not with images. For example, she commends herself to Saint Joseph, but she always has it clear that it is the Lord Jesus who gives the favors: "The Lord seems to have given other saints grace to help in some troubles but I know by experience that this glorious saint helps in all", and "I clearly see (...) that if we are to please God and He is to grant us great favors, it is His will that this should be through His most sacred Humanity, in whom His Majesty said He is well pleased. (...) I have clearly seen that it is by this door we must enter, if we wish His sovereign Majesty to reveal great secrets to us. He will show us the way. If we consider his life, that is our best example."

There's an episode that I liked particularly. The Lord gives her the grace of talking with angels; she hears: "I want you to converse now not with men but with angels". And so it happens, "For I have never since been able to form a firm friendship, or to take any comfort in, or to feel particular love for, any people except those whom I believe to love God and to be trying to serve Him. This has been something beyond my control; and it has made no difference if the people have been relatives or friends." Anybody feels identified?

Check this one out, as example of good and sensible advice: "the proof that something comes from God lies in its conformity to Holy Scripture. If it diverges in the least from that, I think I should feel incomparably more certain that it came from the devil".

Another fun note, this one about her tribulations with her confessors: "He (the devil) cannot do me any harm, but they, especially if they are confessors, can be most disturbing. For several years they were such a trial to me that now I am astonished that I was able to bear it." Beware of human confessors!

A more curious note: "there is nothing the devils fly from more promptly, never to return, than from holy water. They fly from the cross also, but return again. So there must be a great virtue in holy water." Of course there's no virtue in water, but modern readers who are aware of it should still be able to sympathize with her.

The book is full of commentary of this kind. They all portrait the love of this meek woman for the Lord Jesus. This book is so needed today in a world that has gone to the other extreme, that of devotion of evil, that reading it can feel almost like an ET encounter.

Leave your pride outside before entering.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Famous Carmelite classic in a wonderful traditional translation. her spiritual struggles, vision of her potential place in Hell, mystical graces - yet she remained very down to earth. Full of strong Catholic faith and robust common sense. One of hte most admirable women of all time! Nice, large type. Imprimatur.

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