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The Spanish Mystics: Teresa of Jesus and John of the CrossHouston Graduate School of TheologyCS 665 Christian Devotional Classics
Spanish Mystics
Compact group
All living and writing within the 16th century
In close connection with the Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites
Exception is Ignatius of Loyola who became a religious founder himself
Characteristics of Spanish Spirituality
Austere, practical, militant
Little room for religious emotionalism
Tendency to push spiritual principles at all costs to
their logical ends
Stern and bracing view of human character emerges
again and again
Teresa of Ávila
1515-1582 Born into aristocracy
Romantic and ardent
in temperame
nt
ActiveDrawn early to religion
Novice before she
was 20
Teresa of Ávila
4 years later fell seriously ill
Paralyzed for 2 years
Gave up contemplative
prayer life
Struggled for 12 years between mystical
vocation and active life
Middle Age – began to settle
in to good balance
Full mystical life began at
41
Teresa of Ávila
Impacted greatly by
Augustine’s Confessions
Ecstasies followed—
visions, voices, levitations
Entered Ignatian
spirituality
Founded Convent of St. Joseph at Ávila
at age 47
Strictly observed the primitive Rule of Mt. Carmel
Reformer – established Carmelite
houses all over Spain
Teresa was canonized in
1622 and declared a
Doctor of the Church in
1970
About Teresa• Celebrated definition of mental prayer as
“friendship with God” is ultimately from the followers of Ignatius—the Jesuits
• Teresa’s mysticism – focused on communing with God through meditation
• Her motto, “enter into yourself,” was more about bringing God into oneself
• Four stages of “entering”• Tranquility – the stilling of the inner self• Union – the concentration on spiritual meditation• Ecstasy – the repose of the soul• Spiritual Marriage – the perfect union of the soul with God
About Teresa• Met strong opposition as a reformer• Described by a papal emissary as “a restless
gadabout, disobedient, contumacious (resistant to authority) woman who promulgates pernicious doctrine under pretense of devotion”
• She considered herself and her nuns in the battle to rid the countryside of the “mischief and ravages those Lutherans had wrought in France”
• To avoid torture and prison, she hid—John of the Cross was confined to a dungeon for nearly a year
• She feared reversal of her efforts but, in the end, the pope ruled in her favor and her reformed convents continued
Interior Castle• Teaches the gradual unfolding of the spiritual
consciousness• Under the image of the successive habitations • Which the key of prayer unlocks for the soul
• The Castle was made of diamond or crystal• The rooms were arranged in concentric circles• God dwells in the central (7th) rooms• The light of God should fill the castle but is
darkened by sin• The spiritual life is a journey toward the innermost
rooms
Interior Castle
1st rooms • Converted to Christ• Beginnings of prayer
2nd rooms• Easy to be discouraged… • while making efforts to follow Christ and avoid sin
3rd rooms• More committed (but not yet deep)• In danger of getting stuck as conventional churchgoers• Attempting to live the Christian life by one’s own efforts• Neither experiences nor demonstrates the fullness of
God’s love
Interior Castle
4th rooms • Beginnings of the contemplative prayer…• Of silence and love
5th rooms• The fruit of drawing closer to God…• Is visible in love of neighbor and• Participation with Christ in suffering and in joy
6th rooms• Discovery of the desolation and pain…• As well as the unexpected joy and delight…• That accompanies spiritual growth
Interior Castle
7th rooms • Peace and stability• Springing from deep mutual love• Between self and God
Teresa’s friend and co-worker
A fragile and ardent little friar
now known as St. John of the Cross
He is reported to have
been less than 5 feet
tall
No other contemplative
equals his power of bringing us
face to face with the stark realities
of the spiritual life; the one aim set before it and
the price it demands.
His writing…
Personal experienc
e
Proven truth
St. John of the Cross
1542 – 1591Peasant origin, named Juan de
Yepes
Happiest in solitude
Theologically trained (ecstatic
soul seen through the professional
mind)
Entered the unreformed
Carmelite Order in 1562 at age 21
Thought of becoming a
Carthusian monk but persuaded by Teresa to join her
in the work of reform
St. John of the Cross
They met in 1568
Imprisoned for 8-9 months by the
unreformed Carmelites
Kept in barbarous conditions
Escaped from prison in 1580
Wrote Dark Night of the Soul and Ascent of Mt.
Carmel that same year
Canonized in 1627 and
declared a Doctor of the Church in
1926
Carthusians
A particular
order
Lived in hermitages
and communiti
es
Spent lots of time in solitude
Dark Night of the Soul
The dark night of the senses and of the soul break us from these
attachments – drive us toward God
The great enemy of the spiritual life – attachment to things
To reach union, some action is required
Daily surrender
Obediently involved in practice of the spiritual disciplines
Responsively trusting that God draws believers through periods of darkness into more intimate communion
Faithfully waiting in prayerful silence
• Not natural• Exposes …
• How trivial and superficial our thoughts are• How noisy our world is• How inattentive we are to the reality of God’s presence
Enjoy the devotional writing of the Spanish mystics—Teresa
and John