TERESA OF ÁVILA, ST.
(1515–1582)

St. Teresa of Ávila, the Spanish mystic, was born of an aristocratic family in Ávila. In 1535 she entered a Carmelite convent there and four years later was prostrated by a long illness, probably of psychological origin. However, she had already felt the call to contemplation, and at about the age of forty, after a long struggle, she received a second "conversion," which turned her toward an intense practice of contemplation. Her order was relatively lax in its rules, and she felt impelled to begin a reform. In 1562 a reformed convent was established in Ávila under her direction. After five years, despite ill health and official opposition, she began energetically to spread the reform to other parts of Spain. She died in 1582, after a three-year illness. Her main works were her Life (1562–1565), The Way of Perfection (1565), and The Interior Castle (1577). The first is a full account of her inner experiences, and the last gives a more systematic description of the contemplative life.

Her account of the stages of mysticism, in the Life, uses the analogy of watering a garden by various means. Once the weeds have been uprooted, irrigation is needed. Those who bring the water from a well are compared to beginners in prayer and meditation. It is a laborious activity, involving the taming of the senses so that they are no longer distracting. The second stage of meditation is reached with the prayer of quiet. This is compared to irrigating the garden by a waterwheel. The third mode of watering is by a running brook: This corresponds to a state of contemplation in which effort is no longer needed, as if the work were done by the Lord. It is, according to St. Teresa, "a celestial frenzy," in which the faculties of sense perception no longer function. The soul no longer wishes to live in the world but solely in union with God. The intellect is worth nothing, for ordinary modes of understanding are considered irrelevant or nonsensical. In the fourth stage, which is compared to a shower falling on the garden, the soul is totally passive and receptive, all its faculties somehow united with God. The soul cannot properly understand what is occurring, but afterward it is certain that there has been a union with God.

In The Interior Castle St. Teresa supplements her earlier account, comparing the contemplative life to entering a castle or palace in which there are many rooms. These are arranged concentrically in six rings of rooms, or "mansions," round an inner chamber where the king lives. To enter this castle, prayer is needed. Ordinary Christians can enter the first three mansions through humility, meditation, and exemplary conduct; and the attainment of the third mansion represents the life achievement of many worthy Christians. But more remains in the spiritual life than such a virtuous existence. The fourth mansion corresponds to the "second water" of St. Teresa's earlier simile. In the fifth the soul seems to be asleep and unconscious both of the external world and of itself (although such language is analogical; the contemplative is not literally asleep). The soul is illuminated in this state by God. The sixth mansion is like a couple's first sight of one another at a betrothal. Finally, the soul enters the holy of holies. It seems as if this place is dark, because of the overpowering strength of the divine light. Here the soul has a direct vision of God, like the beatific vision to be enjoyed hereafter in heaven. Throughout these descriptions St. Teresa makes frequent use of the imagery of love and of marriage. The distinction between the "betrothal" and the "marriage" is found also in the writings of St. John of the Cross, a friend and follower of St. Teresa.

The detail and sensitivity of St. Teresa's autobiographical reports have given her a special importance in the history of mysticism.

See also John of the Cross, St.; Mysticism, History of; Mysticism, Nature and Assessment of; Women in the History of Philosophy.

Bibliography

St. Teresa's works are collected in Spanish as Obras de Santa Teresa de Jesús, edited by P. Silverio, 9 vols. (Burgos, 1915–1926); they appear in English as Complete Works, translated and edited by E. Allison Peers, 3 vols. (London: Sheed and Ward, 1946). Also see E. Allison Peers, Studies of the Spanish Mystics, Vol. I (London: Sheldon Press, 1927).

other recommended works

De Groot, Jean. "Teresa of Avila and the Meaning of Mystical Theology." In Hispanic Philosophy in the Age of Discovery: Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy, Vol. 29, edited by Kevin White. Washington DC: Catholic University American Press, 1997.

Fales, Evan. "Scientific Explanations of Mystical Experiences, Part II." Religious Studies 32 (3) (1996): 297–313.

Waithe, Mary E. "Roswitha of Gandersheim, Christine Pisan, Margaret More Roper and Teresa of Avila" In A History of Women Philosophers. Vol. 2: Medieval, Renaissance. Norwell: Kluwer, 1989.

Ninian Smart (1967)

Bibliography updated by Tamra Frei (2005)