The Marginalization and Restriction of the Power of Teresa of Avila - Essay Example

The Marginalization and Restriction of the Power of Teresa of Avila: An Examination of Spiritual Passion and Soundness Of Mind '"Oh, the devil, the devil!" we say, when we might be saying "God! God!" and making the devil tremble. Of course we might, for we know he cannot move a finger unless the Lord permits it. Whatever are we thinking of I am quite sure I am more afraid of people who are themselves terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.' With such a blatant statement from her own autobiography that is still compelling reading after over 400 years, we begin to examine the strong mind and will of Teresa of Avila. In order to fully appreciate her works and her contributions to Catholicism it is imperative that we look at the pressures of the period on all people and especially women; this would be the time of overlap of the Spanish Inquisition and the Renaissance. During Teresa of Avila's time, there was plenty for people to fear, no matter what social standing they had. Religious and political turbulence was everywhere; Europe was a dangerous place. That one single woman who could easily been accuses of witchcraft but for being under the protection of the Church could have made so many changes in the Carmelite Order which would have far-reaching effects even into the 21st Century is nearly a miracle in itself. What makes Teresa's life even more fascinating is the fine mind she harbored, honed and disciplined with extraordinary introspection. From her autobiography, it is clear that Teresa was rather bull-headed even at a young age. She was creative, intelligent and active; many of the ingredients for engagement of troublemaking, in which she indulged for a while, much to her later dismay. She loved books, especially those based upon saints and martyrs, which were plentiful in her house, being regularly read by her father. She developed such a passion for these stories that once, around age six or seven, she and her brother Roderigo plotted to run away to be beheaded by the Moorish people so that they could be martyred. This plan was interrupted when a family member intercepted them and brought them home. Going the other imaginative route, Teresa and her playmates engaged in building little nunneries in the garden and Teresa dreamed of being in charge of one. She later admits, though, that to actually be a nun wasn't the main goal. The death of her mother dealt a blow to a 14 year old Teresa; when she was able to comprehend the loss of her mother and what it meant, she took herself to a statue of the Holy Mother and uttered a tearful, heartfelt prayer asking the Virgin to be her mother. It would appear that these are the beginnings of an extraordinary life for a girl born in the 16th Century of Spain, where two options for women existed: arranged marriage or the convent. Early on, Teresa was well aware of her impending future and didn't care for either choice, but after a period of time engaging in typical teenage less than desirable behaviour, she was sent to an Augustinian convent school by her father, where she could mend her ways and get educated. While she immensely enjoyed the company of the good nuns, Teresa still didn't want to become one. She did, however, learn how to engage in meaningful prayer and focus on goodness and devotion to God. She was decidedly happier in the convent than in her father's house, but inwardly she still didn't love God as much as she loved her father. It appears that Teresa did not easily change her loyalties under peer pressure even then. The iron will was beginning to take form; maturity would have to catch up with it. After a year and a half in the convent, Teresa fell ill, and was taken to her sister's house in Catellanos to recover. This was a pivotal time for her, as she was forced into rest and prayer, developing the traits that would serve her so well in future tribulations. It was during this period of recovery that Teresa began reading the letters of St. Jerome (b. approx 335, died 420). Before we continue we should examine the content of some of these letters, for the very same principles penned by Father Jerome hundreds of years before Teresa read them would influence her decision regarding her future vocation and all that would come with it. We will examine this ancient relationship between two extraordinary devotional minds by marking a few parallels along the way Looking back on her turbulent teenage years, Teresa wrote that 'If I had to advise parents, I should tell them to take great care about the people with whom their children associate at such an age. Much harm may result from bad company and we are inclined by nature to follow what is worse rather than what is better. This was the case with me: I had a sister much older than myself, from whom, though she was very good and chaste, I learned nothing, whereas from a relative whom we often had in the house I learned every kind of evil. This person was so frivolous in her conversation that my mother had tried very hard to prevent her from coming to the house, realizing what harm she might do me, but there were so many reasons for her coming that she was powerless. I became very fond of meeting this woman. I talked and gossiped with her frequently; she joined me in all my favourite pastimes; and she also introduced me to other pastimes and talked to me about all her conversations and vanities.' It is possible that an excerpt from St. Jerome's Letter CVII (to Laeta, with advice bout raising her infant daughter) had had an impression on young Teresa, when she was infirm and contemplating her future: 'We are always ready to imitate what is evil; and faults are quickly copied where virtues appear inattainable. Paula's nurse must not be intemperate, or loose, or given to gossip.' This is compared in the light of exploring the young and vulnerable mind of Teresa, shortly after the death of her mother and during a time of illness. It can be safely assumed that the readings of Jerome galvanized the young woman's mind and locked it into place at a very deep level. At age 20, Teresa was faced with another pivotal event. She had fairly well recovered her strength and was spiritually restored as much as she cared to be at that point in her life. She was stricken again with another illness and forced to return to her father's house. It was decided that she should stay a few days with an ailing uncle who lived nearby. The uncle, a widower, was quite old and his eyesight was failing. Teresa was assigned the task of reading to him. So, anxious to please others, Teresa dutifully read and pretended to enjoy it. An epiphany occurred after those few days, and 'such was the impression made on my heart by the words of God, both as read and as heard, and the excellence of my uncle's company, that I began to understand the truth, which I had learned as a child, that all things are nothing, and that the world is vanity and will soon pass away.' The impression of St. Jerome's letters combined with her stay with her uncle and the noble books she read there combined to push her further toward her vocation to fully take the habit of a nun. She summoned the courage to tell her father of her intention and was duly denied permission. Teresa's father's love for her was so great that he could not let her go. Teresa summoned the help of friends and other family members in an attempt to sway him, to no avail. Her father resolutely said she could do what she liked after his death. It was then that Teresa's iron will, newly cast, took its first decisive action in the face of adversity. Teresa persuaded one of her brothers to go with her to take their holy vows. Still, Teresa underwent a mammoth internal struggle leaving her father's house, since her love of God was still no substitute for the love she had for her father and family and she was fully aware that she was choosing the habit in favor of a forced marriage. Knowing herself, though, she knew that it was a now-or-never situation. If she waited any longer she would lose her courage altogether. As we can see, Teresa's constitution and training, whether self-imposed, environmental and random, put her mind and conviction into the crucible at an early age. She faced the death of her mother, sever illness where death would have been a welcome relief, and she risked the loss of relations with her father by leaving against his desires. This wasn't the end of Teresa's tribulations, however; she had a family history that was less than honourable in the eyes of religious life. Firstly, her family was wealthy. Second, her grandfather was Jewish. This was considered a stain in many ways but Teresa pushed ahead despite her inner turmoil. Others thought that Teresa taking the habit was an act of shallow self-indulgence. During the turbulent years of her youth, Teresa took great comfort in books, which were plentiful in her home. She claimed that she was not happy without a book in her hand. Later she said she was grateful to have had the books to teach her, since there was no other teacher for her. She had learned the lesson of self-reliance, another trait that was extremely rare for the women of her day, especially nuns. She was also never quite free of the guilt she carried from her earlier carryings-on, but would later state that were it not for them, she would have no empathy or the ability to bear her life-long ill health, which came again only to fall victim to a vicious form of malaria after just under two years. This forced her to leave her vocation for nearly a year and undergo treatment. Teresa endured the then mysterious, painful illness as well as the fruitless treatments that nearly ended her life and was even taken to the brink of death with an open grave ready for her at the convent. Teresa spent much of this time in a state of prayer and solitude; this no doubt steeled her even more, for she had gone where no one else could go except for God, whom she reverently called 'His Majesty.' in her writings. She was readmitted into the convent and was more than happy to return even though she was extremely emaciated, weak and paralysed. This condition would remain with her for three years. One very intriguing fact about the above-mentioned illness is that before it struck her, a nun in the convent had died of an illness that involved sores and obstructions in her stomach which prevented her from retaining food. While the other nuns appeared frightened of the event, Teresa admitted that she envied the patience of the stricken nun and begged God to strike her with any illness He pleased if it would give her the patience the sick nun had exhibited. It did not escape Teresa's attention that she got what she had asked for, and that in the asking of it she had been willing to earn divine rewards at any cost. At this point in her vocation, she still had the selfish yearnings of youth and an idea of punishment and reward. The time to follow was in itself another great test of strength and spirit for Teresa as she credited God with saving her life yet felt that she squandered it engaged in a 'Dark Night Of the Soul.' She found her willingness to relapse into vanity and 'wicked acts' appalling. She had thought she could not possibly love God any more than she did, only to be faced with the reality that she was still a very vain and socially driven person, very aware of pretenses and how to convincingly craft them when in the company of others. At the time, she was not aware of such internal 'evil,' she was merely desiring to please those around her. It was during this period of time that Teresa all but abandoned the practice of prayer, favouring other rites and rituals that suited her, especially Confession. This is emphasized here because of the evident shaping of Teresa's mind and the factors that went into it. Throughout her life (according to her autobiography) Teresa was introspective and attentive to her thoughts and motives. The next years would prove to be nearly catastrophic for Teresa personally, but her revelations regarding her own stages of spirituality and sincerity reveal an extraordinary mind that was completely self-accountable. This was the bedrock of her work in reforming the Carmelite order in her area and all it entailed. We shall now move forward in time to the period at the Carmelite Convent Of the Incarnation, just outside of Avila, where Teresa languished for years and was more focused on confession than on prayer. Upon discovering that she was still spiritually impoverished, she took up prayer once again, never to abandon it. Drawing upon the writings of Mary Magdalene and St. Augustine, Teresa was able to touch upon a depth that no pries had been able to lead her to. She realised the errors of her ways and, at the age of 40, underwent a transformation so profound that she began to have visions. Her devotion and courage of her convictions was to be tested again. Various priests, hearing her confessions of having visions and raptures, suggested everything from banishing her visions to self-mortification. She dutifully obliged and did all that she was ordered by her earthly superiors, yet these occurrences did not stop. Bearing in mind that the (then) hundred year old Inquisition was still in effect, let us now bring in an extraordinary occurrence: One of Teresa's experiences of rapture came when, after reciting the prescribed hymn from Father Alvares, she heard the words 'I will not have you hold conversations with men but with angels.' During her three years under Director Father Bathasar Alvarez who admonished her for not banishing her visions and insisted that she daily recite the hymn of Gregory the Great (Veni Creator Spiritus), Teresa was, according to some biographers, 'censured for her austerities and ridiculed as a victim of delusion or a hypocrite. A confessor to whom she went during Father Balthasar's absence said that her very prayer was an illusion, and commanded her, when she saw any vision, to make the sign of the cross and repel it as if it were an evil spirit.' (Saint Teresa Of Avila Virgin, Foundress-1515-1582A.D., http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/AVILA.HTM) Let us now pause to consider a few things before we continue. In the 21st Century, it is easy to admire Teresa for her tenacity, her drive, and her endurance. But we must remember that women of that period were regarded as lowly creatures, good for little other than breeding or being cloistered. Women were expected to be submissive and the male tyranny of this period was severe enough to pound many a subordinate woman into submission. If Teresa had one fault that could be named in that era, it would be that she exhibited the desire to have the same freedom of movement and expression as her male counterparts in the faith. Had she been male, she may have been satisfied (assuming she would have chosen the monastic life) to have been a priest. In this time period, many joined the monastic life to escape the tribulations of the world, only to find that there was much unrest within the monasteries and convents themselves, at times much more frequent and intense than would be found in a normal life in the outer world. In Jodi Bilinkoff's book Women With a Mission: Teresa of Avila and the Apostolic Model, Teresa is said to have 'aspired to a male model of sanctity to preach, to convert souls, even to die in defence of the faith.' The role of nuns in her day was minor, not much more than taking in girls and women who were unsuitable for marriage, unwanted, or otherwise outcast from family or society. She also came to abhor the hedonistic lifestyle of the day, with all of its pleasures and pleasantries, which were aplenty in the monasteries, filled with women who had no other choice but to be there and were not about to abandon their social lives or fashion. Teresa eventually saw this as a dismal situation; a convent should serve God and a truly enlightened soul did not need all of the embellishments. We now move to the events that mark the culmination of Teresa's life, the reformation of the Carmelite Order. Teresa has endured illness, rapture, visions and the ridicule of her experiences by her confessors, except for one; St. Peter of Alcantara encouraged her to continue, expressing empathy. After eighteen years of struggling to find a balance between what she saw as true devotion and the prevailing conditions at the Incarnation monastery where little work was done, much socialising occurred and the nuns lived in continual poverty to the extent of almost never having enough to eat due to no efforts of their own, According to the web site of the Discalced Carmelite Order (http://www.ocd.pcn.net/), one evening in September 1560, Teresa and a group of her companions discussed the idea of founding a monastery of Discalced ('shoeless') Carmelites, inspired by the primitive tradition of the Carmelite Order. Teresa was about to face a very challenging and potentially dangerous time. She had learned, through the power of prayer and development of love for God, to practice love with detachment in regard to her friends. This was critical, since she had lived a life of wanting to please others, especially those she loved. She would now have to face friends turned enemy in the years to come. The great event of her union with Christ has passed, and although many still doubted Teresa's visions and experiences, including two of her confessors, she was visited by Peter of Alcantara, a man of enormous depth and a kindred spirit in the level of devotion Teresa had. He counseled her to continue and vouched for her authenticity. Once she set out to found her new order, an entire new set of problems began; in the beginning her confessor and others were in complete support of this revolutionary way of worship, but then the people of Avila heard about it. With so many other monasteries to support, they adamantly opposed the building of a new one, expressing outrage at such an idea. Daunted by the local reaction and much weaker of mind than Teresa, all withdrew their support, including her fellow nuns at Incarnation and Peter of Alcantara. It would not do justice to try to express Teresa's state of mind at this point. Her own words describe what happened; we look again to her autobiography: 'Hardly had news of the project begun to be known here than there descended upon us a persecution so severe that it is impossible in a few words to describe it: people talked about us, laughed at us and declared that the idea was ridiculous. Of me, they said that I was all right in the convent where I was living, while my companion was subjected to such persecution that it quite exhausted her. I did not know what to do, for up to a certain point I thought these people were right. Worn out with it all as I was, I commended myself to God and His Majesty began to give me consolation and encouragement. He told me that I could now see what those saints who had founded religious Orders had suffered: they had had to endure much more persecution than any I could imagine and we must not allow ourselves to be troubled by it. He told me certain things which I was to say to my companion, and to my absolute amazement we at once felt comforted by what had happened and courageous enough to resist everybody. And it is a fact that, at that time, both among people of prayer and in the whole place, there was hardly anyone who was not against us and did not consider our project absolutely ridiculous. There was so much commotion and talk of this kind in my own convent that the Provincial thought it would be hard for him to set himself against everybody; so he changed his mind and refused to sanction the plan.' To have, in such a short period of time, applause then violent opposition would stop most people in their tracks. But Teresa withstood it all and stayed on course. Although everything seemed against the new foundation, Teresa never lost confidence in it, even when minds were changed again. She was, shortly after the first refusal, given permission and encouragement to continue with her new order; she set about finding a suitable house to purchase with the help of a widow friend and a few others. Then yet again, everything upended itself. She said of this, 'It was when matters had reached this position and were so near completion that the deeds were to be signed on the following day that the attitude of our Father Provincial suddenly changed. I believe, and it has since become apparent, that this change was by Divine appointment; for, while all these prayers were being offered for us, the Lord was perfecting His work and arranging for it to be accomplished in another way. As the Provincial would not now sanction the foundation, my confessor at once forbade me to go on with it, though the Lord knows what sore trials and afflictions it had cost me to bring it to its present state. When the project was given up, and remained unaccomplished, people became still more certain that it was all some ridiculous women's idea, and the evil-speaking against me increased, though until then I had been acting on my Provincial's orders.' Her persecution within The Incarnation worsened and few of the same nuns who had for years appeared to adore her would even speak to her. Some even suggested she should be thrown into prison for insulting them. This continued for another six months and Teresa's mind alternated between being at peace and deeply distressed with the loss of the plans for the foundation. Six months later, with a change of Rectors, Teresa found herself ordered by her confessor to go to the new Father to speak frankly and directly with him. This was a highly unusual invitation, especially for a woman. Teresa did so and was suddenly filled with an indescribable state of joy that seemed to come from nowhere. She said she had not felt it before or since. It came unbidden and seems to have placed her into an even more advanced state than she already was. Soon after, another talk with both authorities awarded her the necessary permission and recommendation to move ahead once again with her foundation. She was subjected to threats of being taken before the Inquisitors by some, and to this she only laughed when an ordinary person would have been filled with horror. Teresa had reached a state of being that knew no earthly fear. Her only concern was being worthy of God's service and all that had been granted her. The Catholic Online (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.phpsaint_id=208) site very well sums up Teresa's attitude: '"May God protect me from gloomy saints," Teresa said, and that's how she ran her convent. To her, spiritual life was an attitude of love, not a rule. Although she proclaimed poverty, she believed in work, not in begging. She believed in obedience to God more than penance. If you do something wrong, don't punish yourself -- change.' After having served six months with the bereaved Countess Louise de la Cerda (as ordered by her confessor), Teresa returned with a further revulsion of worldly wealth and protocol. Complaining inwardly that people like this lived such petty, ordered lives where even meals were consumed with no regard to the body's need for food, Teresa returned to Avila and the opening of the new convent, named after her beloved St. Joseph. Four novices were given the habit and the Discalced Carmelite Order began. A little light needs to be shed on the quiet opening of this little convent; it was done so with no endowment. This sent up a mighty opposition in Avila, and the prioress of Incarnation ordered Teresa back to that convent to explain herself. Held at Incarnation, Teresa maintained her composure and held fast to her faith. In her mind, she was not the one in command, 'His Majesty' was. While the prioress and the mayor and the magistrate and the council raged and talk began about tearing the building down, a priest was sent to Madrid, along with an illuminating letter written by Teresa, to appeal to King Philip II regarding the matter. During this heated battle, one man stood up for her: 34-year-old Friar Baez. On the Catholic Founds website (http://www.catholicfounders.org/teresa.htm) can be found this powerful statement by the humble yet persuasive friar, addressing the council: 'Consider the immense good done for society by the great religious orders; were they founded any other way Did not every reform have a similar beginning Surely nothing could be improved if we all surrendered to a cowardly fear of everything new. What is introduced for the greater glory of God and the reform of morals should not be labeled innovation or invention, but rather the renewal of virtue, which never changes.' An excerpt from Teresa's letter to King Philip II reveals the astonishing clarity of mind she had during this turbulent time, writing as well as any lawyer could have done: 'Moreover, since the motive by which those are influenced who have written the memorial can easily be discovered, I beseech your Majesty to examine the matter, because the honour and glory of God are concerned; for if our enemies should see that some attention is paid to their charges, they will not hesitate, in order to prevent a visitation, to accuse as a heretic whoever shall undertake to make it: and this would not be difficult to do, where there is no fear of God.' (Teresa of Avila. 'Letter to Philip II, King of Spain, ' trans. John Dalton,1893). What silenced all was the approval of Pope Pius IV and the King. The results were Teresa being allowed to return to St. Joseph as prioress. Things quieted down now, and Teresa set about the business of her new order. She was now called 'Teresa of Jesus.' As St. Joseph's number grew to the limit of thirteen nuns, Teresa set about writing, again under clerical orders. She protested this in her autobiography, for her Order was one of austerity and labor; she couldn't spin if she was writing. But always obedient to her superiors, she put quill to paper and wrote. The Way Of Perfection, and Meditations On the Canticle. She was later given permission, by a very impressed John Baptist (Rossi) of Rubeo, the Prior General of the Carmelites, to expand her order by founding other convents. This she did, eventually establishing four more convents in Spain. It was at the second of these convents, at Medina del Campo, that she met two friars who had heard of the Discalced Carmelites and wished to join the Order. One of these friars was John Of the Cross. After having five rather peaceful years at St. Joseph, Teresa's life once again began to unravel when she was called upon to restore order in her former convent, Incarnation. Several accounts have been written of her return to her former home in Avila; Eternal World Television Network's web site (http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/AVILA.HTM) gives this story: 'It was hard to be separated from her own daughters, and even more distasteful to be brought in as head of the old house which had long opposed her with bitterness and jealousy. The nuns at first refused to obey her; some of them fell into hysterics at the very idea. She told them that she came not to coerce or instruct but to serve and to learn from the least among them. By gentleness and tact she won the affection of the community, and was able to reestablish discipline. Frequent callers were forbidden, the finances of the house were set in order, and a more truly religious spirit reigned. At the end of three years, although the nuns wished to keep her longer, she was directed to return to her own convent.' More trouble was ahead now, as a battle between the Calced and Discalced Carmelites began to rage, especially among the friars; as the web site for the Order Discalced Carmelites Of (http://www.ocd.pcn.net/teresa.htm) describes: 'The entry of the Discalced Brethren into Andalusia was forbidden by Rossi, the general of the order, who opposed Teresa and Jerome Gratian in this matter. The general chapter at Piacenza in 1575 ordered the Discalced Brethren to withdraw from Andalusia, and Teresa herself was ordered to retire to a convent.' At this same time, defying his orders to return to his own monastery in favor of heading the new reformed houses for men, John Of the Cross was apprehended and imprisoned in Toledo for nine months. This was a dramatic moment in the life of the great Teresa, but she was by no means deterred from the mind and spirit that had been honed and polished over her lifetime. While the battle raged outside and accusations were hurled in every direction, Teresa wrote even more (although she vehemently denied being a writer of any skill), and out of this period of time came 'The Interior Castle.' Her written works, written for the nuns and in her completely subjective style, are heralded as 'one of the most remarkable spiritual biographies with which only the "Confessions of St. Augustine" can bear comparison' (online Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14515b.htm). In the end, prevailing requests for growth of the Order Of Discalced Carmelites won out over the opposition and Teresa went on to found a total of sixteen convents in Spain, working until her death. Her huge success in her mission is not indicative of an unsound mind or simple 'hysteria.' A modern evaluation of Teresa's mental state of mind was written by Christopher M. Bache, Ph.D, (http://primal-page.com/bache3.htm) in the light of the documentation of the symptoms of mystics across the centuries. It would appear that Teresa's mind was cleansed in a stepwise fashion, as she described in The Mansions. Across the literature of mystics of every culture, the typical number of steps to enlightenment is seven. Rather than being a raving lunatic or extremist in any way, it seems that Teresa's tribulations served to force her ever inward, the primary battle being with herself, consistent with the core elements taught by all truly enlightened beings. ' Works Cited and References: Christopher M. Bache, Ph.D., 'A Reappraisal of Teresa of Avila's Supposed Hysteria,' from The Primal Psychotherapy Page, online. Retrieved 17 August 2005 at: http://primal-page.com/bache3.htm Ruth Bertels, Taking Five: All Things Catholic (online), 'St. Teresa of Avila, Parts 1,2,3 & 4. Retrieved 14 August at: http://www.takingfive.com/stteresaofavila_part1.htm Jodi Bilinkoff, 'Woman with a Mission: Teresa of Avila and the Apostolic Model,' in Modelli di santita e modelli di comportamento, Torino, Rosenberg and Seller, 1994, pp. 295-305. Church History, 'Teresa Of Avila', from Canada's Christian Community Online. Retrieved 14 August, 2005 at: http://www.christianity.ca/church/history/2003/10.000.html Order Of The Brothers Of The Most Blessed Virgin Mary Of Mount Carmel (Carmelites: White Friars: O. Carm.) , online, from Catholic Culture. Retrieved on 18 August 2005 at: http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfmrecnum=4449 Catholic Encyclopedia Online, 'St. Teresa of Avila,' retrieved 12 August 2005 at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14515b.htm 'Teresa of Avila, Discalced Carmelites,' Catholic Founders web site, retrieved 18 August 2005 at: http://www.catholicfounders.org/teresa.htm Catholic Online, 'Catholic Online Saints: St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor Of the Church, retrieved 12 August 2005 at: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.phpsaint_id=208 John Dalton (trans/ed.), Teresa of Avila, 'Letter to Philip II, King of Spain'The Letters of Saint Teresa, (London:Thomas Baker,1893),1-3. Eternal World Television Network (online), Global Catholic Network, 'Saint Teresa Of Avila Virgin, Foundress-1515-1582 A.D.,' retrieved 17 August 2005 at: http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/AVILA.HTM Raymond G. Helmick S.J., 'Teresa of Avila,' found online, retrieved 14 August 2005 at: http://www.helpfellowship.org/Articles%20of%20Interest/teresa_of_avila_by_raymond_helmick_SJ.htm Teresa of Avila, The Way Of Perfection. e-text edition from Intratext, retrieved on 16 August 2005 at: http://www.intratext.com/X/ENG0034.HTM St. Jerome, 'Early Church Fathers, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. VI', Letter CVll to Laeta, retrieved 15 August 2005 at: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-06/Npnf2-06-03.htm#P3757_1005453 E. Allison Peers (trans./ed.), Teresa of Avila, 'The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of Avila,'from the Critical Edition Of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C. D. retrieved 15 August 2005 at: http://www.catholicfirst.com/thefaith/catholicclassics/stteresa/life/teresaofavila.cfm E. Allison Peers (Trans. & Ed.) 'The Life Of St. Teresa of Jesus: An Outline', from the Critical Edition Of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C. D. Online. Retrieved 17 August 2005 at: http://www.ourgardenofcarmel.org/teresalife.html E. Allison Peers (Trans. & Ed.), Teresa of Avila, 'The Interior Castle.' from the Critical Edition Of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C. D. Online, retrieved 15 August 2005 at: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/stt01001.htm Order Of Discalced Carmelite web site, 'Teresa de Avila,' retrieved 14 August 2005 at: http://www.ocd.pcn.net/teresa.htm Tom Richard, 'The Our Father, and the Interior Castle of St. Teresa,' Catholic Faith May/June 1999 edition, found online, retrieved 17 August 2005 at: http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Faith/may-june99/contents.html Victor Shepard, 'Teresa of Avila,' from Sermons and Writings of Victor Shepard, online. Retrieved 16 August 2005 at: http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Heritage/teresaof.htm Bob Stanley, 'Gems From St. Jerome', from The Catholic Treasure Chest, online. Retrieved on 13 August, 2005 at: http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/jerome.htm St. Augustine, 'The Confessions,' Rendered into HTML on Mon Jan 12 16:40:07 2004, by Steve Thomas for The University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection. Retrieved on 16 August, 2005 at: http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/a/augustine/a92c/book1.html Read More