Part One: Teresian Roots of Charism:
Context of Teresa's Life and Principles for Reading
II. Key Points for Reading Teresa's Writings
16. The works of Teresa of Jesus are primarily a narrative of her mystical graces. These become a fundamental character of her early writings: particular Christological (cf. Ž 26–27; 37,4) and anthropological graces that lead her to a new understanding of herself and the nature of her soul (cf. ibid. 40,9). These experiences have a distinctly dynamic character: based on contemplation, she feels compelled to establish a [reformed] Carmel and to write (cf. ibid., preface, 37,1). The decision to write her first work, The Book of Life (1562 and 1565), is prompted by a command from her confessors, who are very engaged with her mystical graces; at the same time, she states that she feels urged to do so by one of these inner prompts (cf. ibid. 18,8; 19,3–4). The Way of Perfection (1566) is written rather at the urgent request of a group of nuns, newly established at Saint Joseph, who are aware of her mystical graces and wish to be, to some extent, introduced into harmonious unity with the experience of their Mother. Five or six years later (1573), Teresa begins writing The Book of Foundations. She continues the narrative begun in Ž 32–36, as commanded by her confessor, Father Ripalda, although here too a mystical prompt intervenes (From the preface; R 6,2). Finally, in 1577, The Interior Castle is created. Like Foundations, this last work connects to The Book of Life, but not in narrative storytelling (Ž 32–36), rather in the mystical (ibid., 22–31; 37–40). She writes it to complete the panorama of inner experiences so that they can serve as a paradigm for the process each Christian spiritual life goes through.
17. Rooted in the Bible, God's word, and in the mysteries celebrated in liturgy, Teresa transforms into a person who extraordinarily draws others to such an experience of God that she herself has had. Saint Teresa, therefore, in her writing, draws from experience (cf. Ž 18; ibid., C preface) and wants to awaken experience in her readers: “One cannot convey certain information about what one has no experience of” (6H 9,4; cf. C 28). Hence, her effort not only to explain things well and to make them known, but primarily to entice the reader, to urge him to embark on the same path she is walking. Experiencing God through His grace (1544–1554), experiencing the person of Jesus Christ (1560), and experiencing the mystery of the Trinity (1571) are central points around which Teresian spirituality revolves.
18. Teresa accepts the Bible as the highest criterion of truth and the source of her prayer life (cf. M preface, 2). Besides being completely permeated by the Bible through preaching, liturgical prayer, etc., she could read the texts of the holy books herself through three spiritual writings: Flos Sanctorum (“Flowers of the Saints”) provided her with the entire text of the Passion according to the four gospels; she read the text of the book Job in Saint Gregory's commentary Moralia; biblical texts relating to the earthly life of Jesus or to his mysteries were found in Vita Christi (“Life of Christ”) by the Carthusian Ludolf of Saxony. It should be emphasized how important the presence of the Bible is in the works of the saint: Songs of Songs, gospels, [quotations] of Saint Paul, [models of] biblical figures... From all this, it follows that Teresa reached a great sensitivity towards the Bible, leading to a deep appreciation of the value of Scripture: “All damage done to the world comes from not knowing the truth of Scripture with clear truth” (Ž 40, 1). Teresa values the knowledge of theologians to the extent that it derives from the sacred text: “In the Holy Scripture, which they deal with, they always find the truth of the good spirit” (ibid. 13,18; 34,11).
19. Moreover, Teresa was also introduced to the liturgical life of the Incarnation monastery. There, she integrated into a contemplative community that attributed supreme importance to liturgical prayer and had a considerable number of nuns available to give it a solemn character. Prayer was the main occupation around which all other usual activities revolved. Yet the saint advanced in liturgical spirit primarily when she entered into mystical experience. On that basis, she deepened the mystery of the church's prayer, both in the liturgy of the hours and especially in the great mystery of Eucharistic celebration (cf. 6H 7, 4; CV 33–35), which are the two fundamental pillars of her spiritual life. The most intense mystical graces she received in the Eucharistic context.
20. In all her books, prayer is a central theme, perceived and experienced as personal friendship with the Lord, with the Most Holy Trinity, and as unconditional surrender to Him. Prayer is the gateway that opens to the human person a space of intimacy, in which it is possible to meet God, present in the deepest depths of the soul: “I only say that to these great graces that the Lord granted me, prayer is the gateway; and if that is closed, I do not know how it could be done” (V 8,9; cf. 1H 1,7). It is also the place where Truth and truths are revealed (cf. Ž 19,12; Z 10,13). Saint Teresa understands prayer primarily as a faithful and patient friendly contact with the Lord: she often speaks of the commitment to grow accustomed to seeking the company of the One who continually accompanies us (cf. CV 26–29). For her, prayer “is nothing other than friendly contact, frequent dwelling alone with Him, of whom we know that He loves us” (Ž 8,5). In the poem I Was Born for You, she will sing: “If you wish, give me prayer, / if not, give me dryness. (...) Sovereign Majesty, / only here do I find peace. / What do You command to be done with me?” This is essential and more important than the possibility of achieving certain contemplative experiences. Moments dedicated to prayer, “even if you spent them poorly and unwillingly, are greatly valued by God” (2H 1,3).
21. Teresa translates her own experience into the reformed Carmel with a dual orientation. On one hand, her gaze turns to the roots: she tirelessly affirms her intention to graft herself onto the ancient Carmelite spiritual tradition: a return to the original Rule, the dual model of the Virgin Mary and the prophet Elijah, the eremitical life of the ancient inhabitants of the biblical Mountain (cf. St 9). On the other hand, she shows a sense of updating and novelty: she expresses the intention to integrate into the Church of her time and translates her own religious or spiritual experience into a group of followers of both genders; Mother Teresa teaches the novelty of contemplative life, which has an apostolic, missionary, and ecclesial focus (cf. Z 1,7; CV 1,2; St 6–7.89.94), which is lived in a small group of Christ, in which all [sisters] love and help each other (cf. CV 4,7; 27,6). The foundation of new life, which includes both orientations and integrates the first into the second, is her intense experience of [knowledge of] God and Christ, which starting from her own self reaches those who follow her: “The longer time passed, the more my desires grew for me to be at least a little good for some soul, and many times it seemed to me as a person who guards a great treasure and longs for all to rejoice from it, while his hands are bound, so that he cannot distribute” (Z 1,6).
22. We must not forget another essential element of her ideal, present in her Constitutions, which we could designate as Teresian humanism of religious life: it involves a great respect for the person, the provision of two hours of recreation daily, corresponding to two hours of inner prayer (St 26–28), etc. Already in The Way of Perfection, she emphasized human virtues: “The holier, the more communicative with her sisters” (cf. CV 41,7; St 10), on sharing among persons and communities, on the requirement to work intended for all, on the reading of selected books, the discernment of vocations, loving exercise of authority... These guiding lines Teresa devised and outlined for her nuns. The transmission of these values to the bare brothers occurred through Brother John of the Cross, whom she personally acquainted with the way of mortification, sisterhood, and recreation that prevailed among the nuns (cf. Z 13,5). Thus, Mother Teresa and John of the Cross will forever represent the embodiment of the charismatic Teresian ideal among the brothers (cf. St 11–14).
