The Paradoxical Life of Saint Teresa of Avila: Submission and Subversion within the Patriarchal
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Sixteenth-Century Spain
by
MELODY SMITH
Dr. Carlos Gutierrez, Advisor
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts in Spanish Literature
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
Cincinnati, Ohio
20 May 2011 Submissive daughter of the Church and radical reformist. Revered doctor of the Catholic Church
and canonized author of Spanish Golden Age literature. Few people can compare their
accomplishments with those of Saint Teresa of Avila; and even fewer can boast such an
influence across so wide a range of social contexts. Teresa's life was characterized by paradoxes:
sustaining her body while feeding her soul, living in the world while longing for heaven, submitting to ecclesiastical establishment while desiring the authority to change the institution.
The opposites that she experienced during her life combined to produce her unique personality, which persists today through her distinct writing style.
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Smith 2
Chapter 1. Introduction
Submissive daughter of the Church and radical reformist. Revered doctor of the Catholic
Church and canonized author of Spanish Golden Age literature. Few people can compare their accomplishments with those of Saint Teresa of Avila; and even fewer can boast such an influence across so wide a range of social contexts. Teresa’s life was characterized by paradoxes: sustaining her body while feeding her soul, living in the world while longing for heaven, submitting to ecclesiastical establishment while desiring the authority to change the institution. The opposites that she experienced during her life combined to produce her unique personality, which persists today through her distinct writing style.
In an attempt to understand and interpret Teresa’s writing style, a close study of her spiritual autobiography Life proves to be beneficial for various reasons. One reason is the work’s popularity: for many, her Life stands as the model of Teresian literature. No analysis of the saint’s major works is complete without the inclusion of her Life . In it , Teresa provides a first- hand account of “the life of the holy mother Teresa of Jesus and some of the favours granted to her by God” ( Life 9). Therefore, Teresa has evaluated all the events in her life and has chosen the instances that she has deemed most necessary to share in order to provide an explanation of herself. Because it was written by herself, she gives an apparent unbiased perspective of the occurrences of the most significant aspects of her life and the spiritual favors she experienced.
However, as will be investigated more thoroughly later in the paper, Teresa’s works were influenced by a number of indirect factors, most significantly the patriarchal structure of the
Catholic Church. Smith 3
The role of the patriarchal structure of the Catholic Church on Teresa is best illustrated by her relations with specific male ecclesiastical authorities. Her relationships with her confessors present the most in-depth influence upon Teresa’s life and theology. Because she sought them for council concerning her soul, she related all of her experiences to them and heeded their advice and orders. She also had a confessor almost continuously from the time she entered the convent 1536 until her death in 1582, so an analysis of the role of her confessors will provide information covering the most significant portion of her life. Analyzing her relationship with her confessors will also provide examples of the patriarchal demands and her submission to and defiance of the system, shedding light on her often contradictory writing style. For these reasons, an examination of the influence that her confessors and other male authorities had on her life will supplement the information given in each section.
The social context under which Teresa lived created some of the strongest influences on her life. Sixteenth century Spain’s ideals of social class placed severe restrictions upon those who found themselves positioned within the lower class, especially new Christians and women.
Religious ideology of the time also created an atmosphere of oppression and fear to those who opposed the institution. Having been raised under such an oppressive social system, Teresa, like most citizens of sixteenth century Spain, developed a tendency to submit to authority, both social and ecclesiastical. Teresa’s position within society as a woman and from a family of recent converts from Judaism put her at a severe disadvantage as far as ever having a chance to express herself. Her entrance into the religious vocation restricted her even further. Finally, her mystical theology made her a target of suspicion by church officials, so her only option of survival was to be honest about her experiences and submit to the discretion of her male authorities. Throughout Smith 4 her Life Teresa details several examples of obeying her confessors and superiors, despite her own desires to oppose them.
While Teresa learned how to practice humility and submission, she never abandoned her own theology. Due to the religious reform that was sweeping across Europe at the time, certain
“new Christianity” theology was made accessible to Teresa. Her love for reading and desire for education led her to the writings of mystical thinkers such as Francisco de Osuna and Bernardino de Laredo. In their explanations she found answers to the confusion she had been experiencing in her own prayer life. She also met the acquaintance of several Jesuit and Franciscan clergy who answered her questions and advised her in the way she should go to attain spiritual development. The relationships she had with these new thinking confessors and other clergy reveal crucial information to Teresa’s theological development. Based on her own experience and confirmation she received through her prayer and visions, she knew this mystical theology to be true. Therefore, Teresa was confronted with the conflicting sentiments of her loyalty to the church and devotion to the holy sacraments and her pleasure in prayer and desire for spiritual growth.
This internal conflict between her loyalties to the religious institution and her longings for a deeper personal religious experience explains the apparent inconsistencies in Teresa’s writing style. Patterns of Teresa’s conforming to societal views are found all throughout her
Life, but so are hints of her theology which the church considered to be a threat. In order to safely incorporate her new theology into her works, Teresa had to make careful adaptations in her language when expressing potentially contradictory views. Recent research conducted by
Teresian scholars has interpreted these adaptations as subversive tendencies in the Saint’s writings (Perez-Romero and Weber). The rhetorical devices incorporated into her writing style Smith 5 illustrate how Teresa used submission to attain the results she wanted within an oppressive system.
This battle of opposites that Teresa experienced produced an ironic relationship between obedience and defiance within the patriarchal authority of the sixteenth-century Catholic Church in Spain. An analysis of the writing style found in the spiritual autobiography of this great saint reveals how Teresa overcame this oppressive social system in order to maintain and spread her new theology, illustrated by her relationships with her confessors. Teresa’s Life represents her paradoxical stand against oppressive authority – the power that she found in submission.
Chapter 2
Teresa’s Submission within Her Social Context
The Ideology that Formed Sixteenth-Century Spanish Society
Teresa lived under one of the most controlling social environments within the world’s history. In sixteenth century Spain, the code of “honra” which classified persons in society based on the purity of their blood generated an obsession with nobility and honor. Meanwhile the powerful Catholic Church with its menacing Inquisition produced a nation-wide requirement of obedience. These two forces resulted in the strict hierarchical structure of Spanish society as well as the general ambient of fear of nonconformity with the rules.
Antonio Perez-Romero describes the historical context that led to the creation of the domineering Spanish castizo ideology of the time period. The word c astizo in Spanish refers to Smith 6 the unique and typical characteristics associated with a given subject, in this case the traditional ideology of sixteenth century Spain. Romero notes that the seeds of the castizo ideology date back to the Spanish-Christian struggle against the Moors and the Reconquest of the peninsula to restore the Christian-Roman-Visogathic Spain (6). The most significant results of the
Reconquest were the expulsion (or conversion) of all the Jews from Spain in 1492 and the establishment of the Inquisition. Bilinkoff concentrates the effects of this war-focused history on
Teresa’s home city of Avila which was “designed by foreign ‘masters of geometry’ and built in part by Moorish prisoners of war, the formidable walls of Avila were meant to last centuries, for enemies still threatened the city on all sides. In this ‘society organized for war,’ military strength and prowess were highly valued” (Bilinkoff 2). This military conflict with the Moors left Spain in a defensive state of mind, on guard against anything that might threaten Spain’s venerated
Catholic ideals.
Spain’s traditionalist right-wing ideology classifies Spaniards into social castes based on their “pure” Catholic orthodoxy (5-6). This is particularly important in this work as it comprised the environment that Teresa was living in. In response to the new ideas and reformations sweeping across Europe during the Renaissance, the Spanish rule decided to employ stricter control over society in order to preserve the “true” orthodox Catholicism within their country.
This stricter rule consisted in the persecution and repression of people who did not match the ideal Catholic, including people of ignoble heritage, new converts to Christianity, religious reformers, and women.
The oppressive nature of this type of society produced psychological effects on all of the
Spanish citizens. Everyone in sixteenth century Spain was subject to the influence of the social requirements of the era. Antonio T. de Nicolás, in his introduction to Lincolns’ Teresa, a Smith 7
Woman describes the social power of this code of honor “This secret and vital code of human values bound Castilian society with chains stronger than those that bound slaves to the galleys…Every Castilian was slave to the opinion of others. Every Castilian had to be watchful for easy attack on an unprotected reputation” (xiv). Common people were earnestly trying to prove their good Catholic ancestry, and noble people were constantly under pressure to defend theirs. Those unfortunate soles who found themselves in marginal positions had no choice but to submit to their authorities who were of “pure” Catholic descent. This is the position in which
Saint Teresa of Avila found herself.
Teresa’s Marginal Ethnicity
Saint Teresa was born into a family of conversos , recent converts from Judaism. Her grandfather, Juan Sánchez, in 1485 had confessed to the Inquisition that he was guilty of practicing Judaism in secret, a crime in sixteenth-century known as apostasy (Williams 11).
However, after his confession and completion of the required penance, Sánchez managed to attain some wealth and bribe the court in order to buy his hidalguía , noble status. Teresa’s father married into a distinguished Castillian marriage and also was able to attain a fair degree of wealth through business endeavors. Therefore, Teresa was born into an ambiguous social status, with a dangerous past. The family was so successful in keeping their Jewish heritage a secret that “Teresa’s Jewish background was not discovered until a few years ago. Teresa’s family, who testified at her beatification and canonization, managed to cover up this fact” (Lincoln xv).
Although money allowed this secret to remain hidden from historians, there is no doubt that lingering social stigma as well as psychological effects that accompany secrecy and guilt influenced the life of the saint. To summarize the social position that her Jewish ancestry caused Smith 8 her, “Teresa pertenecía a una hidalguía que había perdido totalmente los privilegios del pasado, arrastraba en una memoria silenciada la conversión pública del judaísmo al cristianismo de su abuelo y de sus tres hijos (entre ellos el padre de Teresa)” (Rodríguez-Guiridi 453).
A Woman’s Inferiority
Even more restricting than her Jewish roots was Teresa’s status as a woman. Woman’s inferiority to man has been a common theme throughout the history of patriarchal societies, and it reached a climax in sixteenth century Spain. In Teresa’s lifetime, women were not left with many career options; the only appropriate careers for women were to be married or to enter a convent. Posed with these two options, Teresa decided to take on the Church. The Catholic
Church possessed the position as the ultimate patriarchal institution. Since the earliest interpretations of the Bible, women have been viewed as weaker, morally and intellectually inferior, and deceptive. The classic example is found in the first woman Eve. She was created second to man, and was made from the man. She was the first to sin, by disobeying God’s command not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Then she deceived man by enticing
Adam to partake in the fruit with her. This Biblical illustration, as well as others found in the epistles of the saints of the early church, such as Saint Paul’s words (for example in 1
Corinithians 14:34-37 and 1 Timothy 2:11-14) justified the patriarchal structure of the Church in the eyes of the ecclesiastical authorities. Weber provides an exemplary quote that captures the clerical interpretation of these scriptures from John Gerson “The female sex is forbidden on apostolic authority to teach in public, that is either by word or by writing…All women’s teaching, particularly formal teaching by word and writing, is to be held suspect unless it has been diligently examined, and more much fully than men’s. The reason is clear: common law— Smith 9 and not any kind of common law, but that which comes from on high—forbids them. And why?
Because they are easily seduced and determined seducers; and because it is not proved that they are witness to divine grace” (19). There is little doubt that living under such an oppressive environment greatly influenced the saint’s writings.
The male ecclesiastical authorities had painted a picture of the nature of women: a being of inferiority, both spiritually and intellectually. Because women were considered spiritually weaker, it was assumed that they were morally inferior and therefore more susceptible to sin.
Ahlgren quotes a sexist explanation given by Dominican theorist Martín de Córdoba who said
“Reason is not so strong in them [women] as in men, and with their greater reason men keep carnal passions in check; but women are more flesh than spirit, and therefore are more inclined to the passions than to the spirit” (7). Men were believed to keep their passions in check by use of their reason, or intelligence. Women’s lack of reason resulted in a hopelessly sinful being.
Being more susceptible to sin, they were also considered more susceptible to diabolical illusions.
Women who had mystical experiences similar to Teresa’s were usually believed to be deceived by demonic spirits. If their natural tendency was toward evil (which all women’s was) rather than God, there was no way God would grant them such spiritual favors. A description of this group of women will follow later in the study. It makes sense that women would be forbidden to have any type of authority within an institution that held such deprecating assumptions about them. Yet despite these formidable obstacles, Saint Teresa was able to triumph over the system and obtain a position of authority through her writings.
In contrast to the image of the sinful woman, the Church authorities promoted the ideal conduct for women to employ in order to attain holiness. It consisted of humility and obedience.
The patriarchal view of women’s evil state gave them no reason to see any good in themselves, Smith 10 therefore they were encouraged to practice as much humility as possible. Also, because they lacked the intellect required to make upright and holy decisions, they were expected to submit to their male authorities, such as their confessors, with complete submission. Images of this ideal, culminated in the example of the Virgin Mary and other female saints, were propagated throughout society (Ahlgren 23). Women were given a special place within the Church structure: enclosed in convents, engaged in intercession (Ahlgren 8). The clergy thought this would be a safe place for women, out of the public influence and far from positions of authority, until they ran into problems with fanatical mystics like Teresa. In order to suppress such incidents, they advocated that it was prideful of women to share mystical experiences and favors received through prayer, and thus strongly discouraged such behavior.
Teresa’s Submission to Her Confessors
In order to survive under such strong misogyny, Teresa did the only thing she saw possible to do: obey the rules and submit to the orders of her male authorities. There are a few specific instances that she refers to in her Life that are worthy of mention when considering the topic of Teresa’s submission. In these cases Teresa finds herself in a position where she is forced to consent to her confessors’ orders, despite her belief that the order will have negative results.
The first occurs early on in her life, where she states that “I have always been attracted by learning, though confessors with only a little of it have done my soul great harm” (Life 27).
Certain unlearned men had led her astray due to their lack of understanding of spiritual matters.
These unlearned priests would tell her “What in reality was venial sin, they would tell me was no sin at all; and the most grievous of mortal sins was to them only venial” ( Life 27). Teresa Smith 11 laments having had such flawed teaching, as it would have benefitted her soul greatly to rid herself of certain sins at that time, rather than tolerating them for so long. However, even though she is bold enough to point out an erroneous teaching from a male authority, she is careful not to blame anyone except herself, claiming that because she is so wicked, she would not have heeded the advice anyway, had they told her to leave her sins (Life 27). This assuming the blame upon herself is an example of her characteristic emphasis on humility. It can be interpreted as a result of the patriarchal influence on her writing style. Modern Teresian scholar Alison Weber claims that her implement of humility is a rhetorical strategy in order to build credit in the eyes of her ecclesiastical authorities. She writes “In short, to prove worthiness and humility at the same time implies the logical contradiction of the double-bind, since humility is tainted by self-regard (46).
Humility is considered a highly valued virtue in Christianity; therefore by abasing herself, Teresa was in reality proving her merit, resulting in another Teresian paradox.
Her general discussion of the topic of unlearned confessors is followed by the example of her experience with her first confessor, Father Vincent Barrón, who was also her father’s confessor. Teresa highlights Barrón’s lack of understanding on the issue of sin saying that he could not bring himself to believe that she was capable of doing anything to offend God because he had such strong affections for her. Teresa distinguishes that this affection in itself was not sin, but it did fail to be beneficial: “There was nothing wrong in his affection for me, but it ceased to be good because there was too much of it” ( Life 28). This affection between the two led to Barrón confiding in her about his perilous state of having affection for a woman, yet continuing to say Mass. Therefore, Teresa became more involved with this man than the traditional confessor-parishioner relationship: her confessor began to make confession to her.
Teresa even remarks “He had been active in God’s service and I never thought there was Smith 12 anything wrong in the great affection that he had for me, although it might have been purer” ( Life
29). Such statements show Teresa’s disapproval of the relationship, but because she was subject to his authority, she had to bear with this near-sinful association. Had this confessor had more learning, and therefore a greater understanding of the gravity of sin, he would have corrected the faults in his own life as well as advising Teresa to do the same, rather than providing her an example of tolerance for sin.
The second example of Teresa’s obedience to her confessors causing her harm concerns her methods of prayer. When Teresa began to experience the spiritual favors for which she is most commonly known, she was quite distraught and did not understand what she should do with them, so she sought the counsel of her confessors on the matter. In the words of her first biographer, Padre Francisco de Ribera, who had served as her confessor towards the end of her life, “Parecíala que de este trabajo no podía salir sino era tratando con personas espirituales que lo entendiesen bien todo y la declarasen la verdad” (130). Unfortunately, her spiritual directors at the time also did not know how to advise her in the matter. Francisco de Salcedo was a respected man in Ávila, who entered a religious vocation after the death of his wife, and Teresa used to seek him for advice concerning the state of her soul. When Teresa presented her experiences in prayer to him, he could not believe that God would grant such favors to so sinful a woman. Therefore, he consulted Father Gaspar Daza on the matter and they concluded that she was being deceived by demonic spirits and advised her to stop praying and resist all such mystical experiences. This decision of theirs caused Teresa great distress, but her loyalty to the
Church made her willing to consent to their orders. This conflict is described by Ribera “Decía también que si aquellos eran engaños del demonio, y a ellos les pareciese, dejaría del todo la oración, por no se poner a esos peligros, aunque de muy mala gana hiciera esto, porque por Smith 13 experiencia había visto cuán mal la había ido el tiempo que la dejó, y lo mucho que después con tenerla, se había mejorado” (Ribera 132). Had Teresa been exposed to spiritual directors who had experience with prayer, she would have been saved much distress and likely would have advanced more quickly into the more profound stages of spiritual favors that she experienced later in life. Fortunately Salcedo and Daza referred her to a priest within the Jesuit order of the church, who was known for his spiritual experiences in prayer. This priest was Juan de
Prádanos, and Teresa was ordered to make her general confession to him, telling him everything, all of the good and bad within her, and to obey him in whatever he commanded. Prádanos encouraged her to continue in her prayers because she was clearly being led by the Spirit of God, but he also told her certain modifications she must make in order to build a good foundation for her life of prayer. One of the things he said she must do was to resist the desire for recollection and consolations in prayer. Teresa gratefully heeded his advice, and said “I made a determination not to depart in any way from what he commanded me” ( Life 152). Although
Teresa welcomed the comfort that her spiritual favors were from the Lord, the advice to resist them prevented her from making further progress until another Jesuit Father advised her to resist them no longer.
Amongst her discussion of this period in her life of trying to find a confessor who could understand her experiences in prayer and direct her toward holiness, she recalls that she has at times been hurt by confessors. She does not give specific names, as is usually her custom, but she does interpolate a few sentences about the damage done to her soul by the gossip of her confessors in the past. With her experience giving her credibility, she gives her opinion on the matter “They [women] should be advised to keep their experiences very secret and it is well that their advisers should observe secrecy too. I speak of this from knowledge, for I have been Smith 14 caused great distress by the indiscretion of certain persons with whom I have discussed my experiences in prayer. By talking about them to each other they have done me great harm, divulging things which should have been kept very secret, for they are not meant for everyone to know” ( Life 150). Although numerous examples exist of her confessors’ actions having a negative affect on her, this is one of the few cases where Teresa is bold enough to directly point out a flaw in the Church hierarchy without assuming the blame herself.
The final significant example of Teresa’s submission to ecclesiastical authority despite her contrary desires involves the foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph. Considering her position as a woman of Jewish ancestry within the Church, it is expected that Teresa would be confronted with numerous obstacles when attempting something as authoritative as founding a new convent. And considering her history of submission to Church authority, it is remarkable that she even tried. However, Teresa received a command from the Lord in prayer to found the new convent. Ribera describes the experience “Otro día habiendo comulgado, mandóla
Jesucristo Nuestro Señor que con todas sus fuerzas procurase hacer aquel Monasterio , prometiéndola que no se dejaría de hacer, y que Su Majestad sería muy servido en él, y mandó que se llamase San José” (158). Also worthy of mention is that God commanded her “to tell my confessor this and to say that it was He Who was giving me this command and that He asked him not to oppose it nor to hinder me in carrying it out” (Life 220). Teresa hesitated for a short time, but after the Lord confirmed again and again that He wanted her to take action, she “dared not do otherwise than speak to my confessor about it and give him a written account of everything that took place” ( Life 220). Teresa’s emphasis that she “dared not” do otherwise than speak to her confessor shows her absolute willingness to submit to the authority of both the Lord and the
Church. Smith 15
The problems with the foundation of the convent derived from the indecision of Teresa’s confessors and superiors complimented by her resoluteness in obeying them in everything. At first her confessor, who at the time was Baltasar Álvarez, was neither openly in favor of nor in opposition of the founding of the new convent. He ordered her to take the matter up with her
Superior and obey his orders concerning it. The Supervisor, along with the Provincial Father
Fray Angelo de Salazar, took to the idea very well and gave her permission to begin the work.
However, as soon as the project began great opposition arose to the point that Teresa describes
“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 out project absolutely ridiculous” ( Life 221). In response to this commotion the Provincial changed his mind and refused to sanction the plan. Prior to the withdrawal of approval from the Provincial, Teresa had taken great comfort in being able to both obey her spiritual directors and pursue what she believed God was telling her to do. Afterward, however, she found the two at opposition and thus was greatly distressed. Teresa saw only one option for the action she should take: as always, she would resort to the ideal feminine conduct imposed by the patriarchal authorities and abandon her own will in order to concede to the orders of her confessors. Ribera describes the saint’s actions thusly, “Habíala costado muchos trabajos y aflicciones a la Madre Teresa de Jesús traer el negocio a los términos en que estaba; y con todo eso alzó la mano de él con tanta facilidad y paz de su alma, como si no la hubiera costado nada, porque contra la voluntad de su Provincial ella no quería hacer nada, ni contra el P. Baltasar
Álvarez, su confesor, que luego, en sabiendo la voluntad de su Provincial, la dijo que no entendiese más en ello” (Ribera 160). Despite all that the work of beginning the foundation had caused her, Teresa gave it all up as if it meant nothing solely because that was what her confessor had commanded. The trials that she faced while founding the monastery of St. Joseph, Smith 16 the first of the Discalced Carmelite Order, were among the most difficult she experienced during her life. Some confessors helped her, while others made the situation significantly worse.
However Teresa handled the difficulties by submitting to authorities and depending on God to lead her. Eventually God did keep His promise to Teresa and the convent of St. Joseph was founded in 1562.
The Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition
In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century Renaissance ideals were spreading throughout Europe, and the Catholic Church was experiencing great changes due to those ideals.
Many reformed orders were created and protestant sects were springing up as a result of lay people seeking the Divine but despising the Church’s rigid structure. In order to protect “true” orthodox Catholicism, the Spanish crown tightened its grip on the Spanish people by using the
Church to execute punishment against potential heretics. In 1490 the Spanish monarchs
Ferdinand and Isabel created the Inquisition, a tribunal that would judge potential adversaries to the Church doctrine.
The Inquisition was given increasingly more power as the sixteenth century progressed, in response to the Reform of the Christian religion that was occurring. Perez-Romero explains
“In response to the danger of the Renaissance ideals, the upholders of traditionalism—the absolute monarchy, the nobility, and the Church’s hierarchy—mounted a large campaign to keep the forces of change at bay. This campaign started very early in the sixteenth century with the persecution and demonization of Catholic reformers, and continued almost to the end of the seventeenth century” (11). This response to the Protestant Reformation is known as the Counter-
Reformation, and it consisted of strengthening the authority of the Catholic Church. The Smith 17 increasing role of the Inquisition in assuring fidelity to Catholic orthodoxy was a primary means of achieving this goal. Therefore, the Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition created a climate that was exceptionally dangerous to new ideology.
The “new spirituality” that was spreading throughout Europe emphasized the individuality of a person’s relationship with God, encouraging laymen and women to take authority in their own spiritual development. This new focus on the individual challenged the traditional role of the Catholic Church, which maintained that a person needed guidance from a qualified spiritual director and the Church doctrine in order to attain any degree of connection with the Divine (Williams 26). The authority of the Catholic Church was perilously threatened, as more people accepted the idea that they did not need to rely upon the hierarchical structure of the Church for spiritual development. Therefore, the Church authorities repressed people who promoted such ideas, using the claims of heresy and blasphemy as grounds for persecution.
While many various new spirituality groups were persecuted by the Inquisition during the time, the one that had the most profound influence upon Teresa is the alumbradas . Some
Teresian scholars even claim that the alumbradas movement had the most impact on Teresa’s literary objectives (Ahlgren 29). Alison Weber provides a detailed description of the alumbrados as well as their influence on Teresa in the first chapter of her book Teresa of Avila and the Rhetoric of Femininity. The alumbrados were laypeople who believed that any person can understand spiritual matters, such as the Holy Scriptures, when they are enlightened or
“illumined” by the Holy Spirit. This group was particularly appealing to coversos and women because it provided them with a “nonceremonial form of Christianity centered on a loving and forgiving God” rather than an institution that practiced racial and sexist discrimination (Weber
22). Smith 18
Women in particular tended to hold major leadership roles within alumbrado circles, which resulted in an elevated suspicion of women who claim to have spiritual experiences, including Teresa. The persecution of Magdalena de la Cruz is the primary example of an alumbrada being condemned by the Inquisition and it is indubitable that Teresa was affected by the incident. Teresa frequently worried that the spiritual favors she received were from the devil, rather than from God, and the claims that Magdalena de la Cruz was deceived by the devil and persecuted by the Inquisition for it heightened her fears. In the words of her faithful biographer
Ribera, “No tenía duda cuando estaba en la oración, pero en distrayéndose algo, tornaba a temer.
Movíala a esto ver engaños grandes que en aquel tiempo había habido en mujeres, y particularmente el de Magdalena de la Cruz, que puso espanto a toda España” (130). The persecution of Magdalena de la Cruz and women like her by the Church disturbed Teresa because it posed a strong opposition between mystical experiences and fidelity to the Church.
Teresa was again torn by the conflict between her spiritual yearnings and the orders of her beloved Church.
Teresa’s mystical experiences also put her in danger of suffering the same fate as the alumbradas . Checa explains “en la España de la segunda mitad del XVI (todavía bajo el temor de la herejía de los alumbrados) el misticismo teresino arrostra también sus propios aspectos sospechosos. Piénsese especialmente en la presunción, tan enfatizada por Santa Teresa, de un contacto directo e íntimo con Dios; su resultado es un supuesto <
Catholic ideology, including sacraments and exterior works, the veneration of saints, and the mortification of the flesh. They rejected the Church’s authority because they believed in God’s desire for every individual, and resented the discrimination and restrictive rules of the institutional Church. This can explain why the alumbradas were so influential upon her writing style; because she had to make great efforts to prove her humility and submission to ecclesiastical authority so as to not be associated with this rebellious group. It was the Church’s belief that “ alumbrados had made two major errors: they had been deceived in prayer and they had had too much spiritual pride to admit that they had been so deceived” (Ahlgren 7). In response to this belief Teresa constantly consulted her spiritual directors about her supernatural experiences, to be assured that she wasn’t being deceived, and she greatly emphasized her sinfulness and wickedness, so that her relation of her spiritual favors could not be misconstrued as prideful. While the alumbradas were characterized by their resentment of the Catholic
Church, their influence on Teresa was to push her closer into the strict embrace of the patriarchal hierarchy for protection.
Another action of the Inquisition that greatly affected Teresa and her writing style is the strict censorship of religious writings. In 1559 the Church issued a list of banned books, which was called the Valdés Index of Prohibited Books. Many of Teresa’s favorite books were found on this list, as they described mystical experiences and encouraged uneducated people to pursue such relationships with God. The censorship only permitted such theological books to be written in Latin, because those who were educated enough to read Latin, were educated enough to discern true theology. On the other hand, the vernacular translations, which Teresa had relied upon before the Index was published, were prohibited in order to keep the “unqualified” Smith 20 laypeople, especially women, from trying to interpret theology on their own. Only instructional books such as catechisms and moral treatises were permitted to be printed in the vernacular
(Ahlgren 19). Checa explains the effect of the censorship on Teresa’s works “la composición de las obras teresianas empieza a tener lugar cuando en Indice de Valdés (1559) les impide a ella y a sus hermanas acceder a numerosos textos espirituales escritos en lengua vernácula” (Checa 109).
Therefore the censorship affected Teresa’s writing style in two distinct ways: it increased the importance of the subject of her writing, as mystical literature written in the vernacular was lacking, and it forced her to adopt the most careful language so that her writings would not find themselves on the same list.
Teresa lived during the height of the Inquisition’s power, which made her strategy of submission to ecclesiastical authorities even more vital. However, the other side of this historical context is the effect of this proliferation of reformatory ideals upon her ideology. The complex nature of her social environment can go a long way in explaining Teresa’s paradoxical nature, which is reflected in her writing style. Because the Reform and Counter-Reform produced members of clergy with such contrasting views of religion, Teresa had confessors of both perspectives. She submitted to all of her authorities, whatever their stance on the reform, but the effects of her obedience to each perspective were clearly distinct. Those of the traditional perspective repressed her, while those who held a more liberal view helped her subvert the system.
Smith 21
Chapter 3
Teresa’s Defiance of Her Beloved Religious Institution
Teresa’s subversive inclinations result from the certainty with which she believed in her theology. As demonstrated in the previous chapter, Teresa’s natural tendency was to submit to her authorities, especially within the Church. However, her mystical experiences and her personal understanding of God gave her the courage and the compulsion to rebel against the flaws that she found in her beloved institution.
With good reason Teresian scholars rely heavily upon an analysis of Teresa’s social context in order to form their interpretations of the saint’s writings. Williams supports the large percentage of his work that he dedicates to the description of Teresa’s social context by explaining in his introduction that “much of her theology becomes clearer in light of her background” (ix). This truth is demonstrated by the great influence of the Reform environment created by the Renaissance on the saint’s ideology, and she commits a great portion of her Life to explaining specific influences on her understanding of spiritual matters. Her relationships with her more liberal thinking confessors provide a number of good illustrations to track the development of Teresa’s ideology and the encouragement she received to defy the Church’s patriarchal hierarchy.
Renaissance Ideology in Spain
One of the most significant movements in the history of the Western world is the
Renaissance. The basis of the movement was a regeneration of Classical thought, a “rebirth” of
Ancient Greco-Latin ideology. A great emphasis was placed on anthropocentrism, the belief that Smith 22 the man is the center of the universe, which led to the construction of humanism and a focus on the individual. The movement’s emphasis on individuality, led to the reconstruction of the institutions that governed society. At this time in Europe, no institution played a more influential role in society than the Catholic Church. Therefore many prominent Renaissance thinkers were inspired to evaluate the theological foundations of the Church. The result of this religious investigation was the Reformation of the Catholic Church and more drastically, the Protestant
Reformation.
One of the key players in the reformation of the Catholic Church is Desiderius Erasmus.
Erasmus held many similar beliefs as Martin Luther, but rather than breaking completely from the Church, Erasmus decided to reform the Church from within, as was Teresa’s method also.
Erasmus has been referred to as “Prince of the Humanists” and “the crowning glory of the
Christian humanists” because of the influence of his theology on the later generations of
Christians. The fundamental Erasmian ideals consist of “the recovery of the clear vision of primitive Christianity (and of a decent text of the Greek New Testament), the reform of superstitious abuses in the Church, and a religion no longer in thrall to external observance, but rational and moral” (Williams 27). Placing more importance on the internal religious experience rather than the external compliance of religious “superstitions,” Erasmus was an advocate of private mental prayer and individual interpretation of the Bible. Erasmus also rejected the idea that women are spiritually inferior, advocating that women receive religious education and equal access to the Holy Scriptures. He justifies this belief by claiming that “Jesus did not want his teachings to remain secret but to be widespread…I would desire all women should read the gospels and Paul’s epistles, and I would to God they were translated into the tongues of all men”
(Weber 21). Smith 23
As mentioned earlier, Spain experienced significant changes in response to ideals that emerged during the European Renaissance. While the Renaissance began in Italy during the 14 th century, its influence began to spread to Spain in the late 15 th and 16 th centuries. The Catholic
Reforms in Spain largely due to the actions of Cardinal Ximénez Cisneros, who was placed into his position as chancellor of Castile by Queen Isabella. Cisneros began by reforming the
Franciscan Order, imposing stricter rules on the Franciscan clergy, and later reforming other orders as well. Cisneros also shared the Erasmian belief in female piety. Therefore he gave tutelage to the translation into the vernacular many portions of Scripture, as well as many devotional and mystical works, giving Spanish women and laypeople more access to theological texts (Weber 21-22). Thus the “new spirituality” was introduced into Spain and was enthusiastically accepted among Spanish citizens, especially amongst conversos and women.
Teresa is one of the converso women whose soul was benefitted by the introduction of the new spirituality into Spanish society.
In addition to advocating more spiritual education for women, the new Christian ideology that arose placed more emphasis on God’s grace than man’s efforts. Perez-Romero explains
“We are here dealing with two crucial beliefs of the new spirituality, and it is around these two main themes that St. Teresa has structured her book: the person’s helplessness to do anything to achieve his or her salvation, and God’s power to achieve it” (86-7). Perez-Romero goes on to explain that these two ideals inevitably lead to a third major belief, which is the denial of the freedom of will. It is these three central beliefs that put the Catholic Church in a position of fear of the spreading Reform. The structure of the Catholic Church relied on the authority that the priests gained from the non-clerical needing the Church for direction on the state of their soul.
Therefore the Church opposed this belief in salvation by grace rather than works. Smith 24
Teresa’s theology consists of a mixture of traditional beliefs upheld by the Catholic
Church doctrine and revolutionary beliefs that challenge the structure of the Church hierarchy.
In all of her theological ventures, she never contradicts the Holy Scriptures or the Doctrine of the
Church, and most importantly, she never dares to deliberately offend God by breaking any of His commandments. In fact, it is God who endows her with the most controversial of her opposing views: her mystical experiences.
Teresa’s Ideology: The Mystic Experience
Teresa’s theology is based on personal experience more than learning and following rules. She describes the certainty that she feels when she receives spiritual favors from the Lord in this way “I can only say that the soul feels close to God and that there abides within it such a certainty that it cannot possibly do other than believe” ( Life 110). As is true of all people, her belief system was greatly influenced by the factors present in her social environment. The strict authority of the Church provided Teresa with a Biblically structured foundation, but with some ideas having been corrupted by the domineering patriarchal hierarchy. The new spirituality introduced by the Erasmian Christians provided Teresa with a more personal and intimate connection with God, but lacked the discipline and structure she deemed necessary in order to avoid offending God. Teresa evaluated all of the ideas that surrounded her and relied on her personal experience, as well as the wisdom that the Lord granted her to discern what was true and maintain her own theology.
The foundation of Teresa’s mystical theology is personal prayer. Throughout her Life,
Teresa emphasizes the importance of her personal time, where she spent hours upon hours alone with God. She remarks numerous times throughout her Life that she would quickly grow weary Smith 25 of interaction with other human beings, and constantly longed to return to her prayers whenever she was engaged in other tasks. She writes the encouraging words that the Lord spoke to her during her first experience in rapture when He began to call her out of living in the world and to instead live with a Heavenly focus. She recalls “I heard these words: ‘I will have thee converse now, not with men, but with angels’” ( Life 155). She passionately speaks of the consolations, peace, and joy that overwhelmed her soul when she was in communion with God. Teresa attempts to describe her feelings in one instance “I cannot describe the soul’s feelings when the
Lord grants it an understanding of His secrets and wonders—a joy so far above all joys attainable on earth that it fills us with a just contempt for the joys of life” ( Life 174). Teresa practiced prayer primarily because it pleased her to do so, not because it followed suit with the new ideology, and not because she was forced to by her spiritual directors.
This emphasis on mental prayer over vocal prayer is one of the primary ideals of the
Erasmian Christians. The Catholic tradition places great importance on the recitation of pre- written vocal prayers, but the followers of the new spirituality held that there was greater power in concentrating and meditating on the Scriptures, on the nature of God, and one’s own sin than simply reciting words written on a page. Teresa also placed greater emphasis on individual prayer, but she did not reject the utility of pre-written prayers, claiming that often times the Lord would take her up in a rapture while she was meditating on a prayer of one of the saints. This was just one example of how Teresa’s theology was influenced by the new spirituality of the
Reform, but yet she did not reject the Church’s teaching.
Teresa also advocated the three main beliefs of the new spirituality laid out by Perez-
Romero: salvation by God’s grace rather than works and predetermination. Her Life is packed with claims that she, being so wicked, never would have attained such a high degree of favor, Smith 26 had it not been God’s pleasure to grant it to her. She gives God credit for every instance in her life, even beginning with her childhood, where she describes “how the Lord began to awaken her soul in childhood to a love of virtue” (Life 10). Teresa also remarks early on in her Life that it was God’s will for her to be saved, exclaiming “O my Lord, since it seems Thou art determined on my salvation—and may it please Thy Majesty to save me!” (12). Ribera goes one step farther and directly negates the power of Teresa’s will stating that the foundation of the monastery of St.
Joseph “ parecíala que ya no era esto cosa de voluntad como antes, sino que la obligaba el
Señor” (158). Perez-Romero claims that promoting this new-spiritual idea of God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation is Teresa’s ultimate subversive goal in writing her Life. Perez-Romero claims that Teresa incorporates two distinct messages into the writing of her Life, the official message that complies with traditional ideology and an unofficial message that expresses Teresa’s unorthodox beliefs (85). The official purpose of Teresa’s writing of her Life , in obedience to her confessors’ orders, is to explain the nature of her spiritual favors. However Teresa fails to keep this subject the main focus of her work and she repeatedly resorts to descriptions of God’s grace and his power to save. Thus Teresa uses her writing as a means broadcasting her subversive message, sharing her testimony of God’s sovereignty in her salvation (Perez-Romero 86).
Understandably, Teresa often struggles to find words to describe her mystical experiences. Though she mocks the elementary imagery, she finds the ability to relate her experiences through the means of a metaphor, which she begins to describe in chapter XI and continues through chapter XXVII. In this metaphor, the soul is a garden in which the Lord is to take delight, however the garden is full of bad soil and weeds. Therefore God uproots the weeds and plants good plants in their place. After God does the work preparing the soul, it is the person’s responsibility to tend the garden by keeping the weeds of sin from reentering and by Smith 27 watering the garden with prayer. She describes four distinct stages through which the soul advances on the road of prayer. The first way of watering the garden is by drawing water from a well with a bucket, which costs the soul much labor. In the second stage the soul draws water by a water-wheel or a windlass, which is less laborious. She notes that many people who practice prayer attain this state but then do not progress from there. Those who do progress beyond the second stage move to the third stage, where the garden is watered by a stream or brook, which waters the ground more thoroughly and there is less need to water it so often, so the laborer’s work is reduced even further. The final stage in prayer is compared to a heavy rain, where the
Lord waters the garden with no labor required of the soul.
The manners of watering the garden each correspond to the way of prayer at each of the four distinct stages. The first stage describes the soul who has just begun to practice prayer; the person must draw water with buckets by reflecting on his or her own sins and meditating on the life of Christ. Teresa encourages her readers to press on through this stage even though they feel aridity because the Lord is testing them to see if they are prepared to receive His treasures.
Teresa is careful to make the distinction that even though drawing water requires much labor on the person’s part, it is God who puts the water in the well and one cannot make any progress if it not God’s will.
The second stage of prayer uses a windlass or waterwheel, an instrument given by God to make praying less laborious and more restful. Teresa calls this the Prayer of Quiet and describes a suspension of understanding and memory. She explains that in this state the person begins to feel a spark of true love for God. She warns that the person must be careful not to quench this spark with sin, or smother it by striving too hard and putting logs on what is not yet a fire.
Teresa teaches that humility is the straw that catches and grows the flame and says that this is the Smith 28 stage where flowers bud and prepare to bloom, referring to spiritual blessings. The soul begins to border supernatural experiences and thinks that there is no higher level because it is so content with the peace granted at this stage. This is why may people reach this stage, but fail to progress to higher stages.
In the third stage a soul begins to experience supernatural encounters. She compares it to watering a garden from a river, which flows with no effort of the gardener, but it needs to be given direction in order to water the flowers. Here she explains that the Lord helps with the work so much that He is almost the Gardener. She explains that in this stage the faculties are asleep, because they are idle but not wholly absent. She describes her feelings in this state as a
“glorious folly” and a “heavenly madness” and the soul “knows not whether to speak or to be silent, whether to laugh or to weep” ( Life 96). She says that this state of prayer is “quite definitely a union of the entire soul with God” ( Life 102).
After this union with God, there is one more level of prayer. This fourth stage Teresa calls a heavy downpour of rain which fills and saturates the whole garden with an abundance of water. This is the ultimate state of mystical experience, where the soul is plunged into profound supernatural experiences. Teresa explains that this prayer is “not labour at all, but bliss” ( Life
105) because just as a human being cannot control the rain, one cannot control when these experiences come upon them. She states that “This rain from Heaven often comes when the gardener is least expecting it”, although she does mention that these experiences come at first after a long period of mental prayer; that they are God’s reward of rest to the little bird who has been striving with all its might to reach Him ( Life 108). This kind of prayer occurs solely when
God is pleased to join a soul to Himself and man can do nothing to make them come if it is not
God’s will. This union requires and results in complete death to self, as Teresa shares the answer Smith 29 she received from the Lord after inquiring what happens to the soul in this state. She repeats “It dies to itself wholly, daughter, in order that it may fix itself more and more upon Me; it is no longer itself that lives, but I” ( Life 110). For the phrase “dies to itself wholly,” Teresa uses the
Spanish word deshacer, for which Peers suggests other possible translations in a footnote including “be consumed”, “be destroyed”, and “be annihilated.” Therefore in this fourth state
Teresa has become completely consumed by God’s love and can do nothing in her power to resist Him.
Although Teresa goes much more in depth into her spiritual experiences in her Life and other works, this metaphor of the four spiritual waters sufficiently illustrates Teresa’s general theology. The purpose of these chapters, comprising a large portion of her Life, is to describe and explain her methods of prayer: in essence, to make clear her theology. She stresses God’s sovereign role in elevating a soul to higher degrees of prayer, a fundamental belief of the reformatory Christians. However, she also emphasizes the importance of man’s actions in the progression, a principal ideal of the Catholic Church. She says that man must be faithful by striving for perfection and resisting sin, but that ultimately man’s actions are useless if God is not pleased to grant him the spiritual water. The very description of her theology presents an example of Teresa’s paradoxical tendencies, as it blends the influence of the new spirituality of the Erasmian Christians—God’s sovereign will—with the traditional view of the Catholic
Church—the importance of man’s actions.
This blending of ideologies is demonstrated through Teresa’s consistent dependence upon her confessors. She concludes the description of her spiritual favors by warning that without developing strong virtues, a soul is like an unfledged bird; though God is taking it out of its nest, it is not ready fly because its virtues are not strong and it has no experience to warn it of dangers, Smith 30 especially the harm done by self-confidence. She adds “It was this that ruined me; and, both because of this and for other reasons, the soul has great need of a director and of intercourse with spiritual people” ( Life 118). After she elaborately describes the spiritual favors the Lord has granted her, a subject very dangerous within the Church’s jurisdiction, Teresa concludes by returning to the institution’s fundamental instruction: dependence on the Church hierarchy for spiritual direction.
The Formation of Teresa’s Theology: Her Confessors’ Influence
Teresa’s relationship with the Church began at the age of sixteen, when, after the death of her mother, her father was concerned about her spiritual state and boarded her within an
Augustinian convent where she stayed for eighteen months. There she began to consider taking up the religious life and after a period of reflection and reading, she decided to enter the
Carmelite convent of the Incarnation in Avila, and took the habit in 1536 (Williams 2). Her entrance into a Carmelite convent meant that the tendencies of the Carmelites and Dominicans provided the fundamentals of her Catholic upbringing. The charism, or spiritual focus of the
Carmelite Order is contemplative prayer. The order was founded by a group of hermits who gathered on Mount Carmel, and so the Order is structured to emulate the eremitic lifestyle of poverty and rejection of worldly pleasures as well as solitude and personal prayer. These are the principles that define Teresa. Teresa recalls her inclination toward the eremitic lifestyle, even in her childhood, as she and her brother would pretend to be hermits in their playtime (Life 11).
The Carmelites had a close affinity to the Dominican Order, and many of Teresa’s confessors were Dominicans. The Dominican’s charism is preaching and teaching, placing much importance on education in order to combat heresy and false doctrine. A very significant Smith 31
Dominican influence on Teresa’s early conventual life was her education, providing her access to theological literature.
Later in her conventual life, Teresa was influenced by more liberal thinking Orders. First of all, the Franciscan Order played a great role in shaping Teresa’s new spirituality, particularly due to the popularization of mysticism that resulted from the Reform of the Order. Teresa was first influenced by their literature, which she read early in her religious vocation. Later, she would meet the acquaintance of Franciscans with whom she would develop great friendships.
The Franciscan Order is characterized by their lives of simplicity, penance, and poverty. Teresa was also influenced by the reformatory ideals of the Jesuits. As she began to experience favors in prayer, Teresa was referred by her Dominican directors to the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuit Order. Teresa developed a great affection for this group of Fathers and their doctrine played a large role in shaping Teresa’s theology. Her devotion to the Jesuits is shown in the comment that her confessors “have almost always been chosen from the blessed Fathers of the Company of Jesus ( Life 152).
At this time religious theologians were categorized into two groups: letrados and espirituales. The letrados or “lettered ones” were those who viewed religious faith as a matter of doctrine while the espirituales focused more on personal experience and mystical prayer. The letrados tended to have more authority in the Church and tended to discourage lay people from entering into theological issues, but encouraged them to pursue virtue and moral discipline. The espirituales encouraged all people to pursue a personal understanding of God. It was common for both currents of thought to coexist within the same religious order, as was the case in the
Dominican Order (Ahlgren 14).
Smith 32
The Dominicans
Teresa’s first confessors were Dominicans, as were also some of her most influential confessors later in her life. Some of her confessors are classified as letrados while others can be considered espirituales . Teresa’s amount of admiration for her Dominican confessors can be determined by her comments on their degree of learning. For example, she describes Father
Vicente Barrón, her father’s confessor and her first confessor as, “a man of really good family and great intelligence, and also of some learning, though not a great deal” ( Life 27). As described in the second chapter, Teresa did not entirely approve of Barrón’s lifestyle and the guidance he gave her. Conversely, she did have other Dominican confessors whom she praised for their learning. For example she describes Father Pedro Ibáñez “at that time he was the most learned man in the place, and there are few more learned than he in his entire Order” (Life 222).
Another significant Dominican in Teresa’s life was Don Francisco de Salcedo. While he was not officially her confessor she credits him with being “the beginning of my soul’s salvation” ( Life 147). He was a saintly gentleman who had been practicing prayer for nearly forty years when Teresa met him. He was also a diligent frequenter of the theological lectures in the monastery of the Dominicans (Lewis 22). Salcedo’s experience with prayer combined with his zeal for learning is characteristic of Teresa’s later Dominican confessors, and both passions are also shared by Teresa. Salcedo encouraged Teresa’s pursuit of holiness and education, but when it came to her spiritual experiences, he proved to be more of a letrado than an espiritual.
When Teresa sought his counsel regarding her spiritual encounters, he could not confidently give her advice, possibly due to his status as a lay person, or lack of experience with spiritual matters.
Therefore he referred her to Gaspar Daza, who, being too busy to accept Teresa’s petition that he serve as her confessor, referred her to the Jesuits. Smith 33
After a period of having Jesuit confessors, Teresa again turned to the Dominicans for help when she encountered difficulties in founding the monastery of St. Joseph. After the
Provincial withdrew his support of the new monastery, Teresa and her companion, Doña
Guiomar of Ulloa, decided to talk the matter over with the highly intelligent Dominican Father
Pedro Ibáñez to seek his advice because they had no one else to advise them concerning the issue. After a week of contemplating the ideas and almost giving the project up completely, he realized that God would be greatly served in it and decided to help advise them in the steps they should take to carry out the project. This was the beginning of the relationship she had with
Ibáñez, who would later become her confessor. Ibáñez was not only a confessor to the saint; he also became her disciple as he sought her advice on how to cultivate his own personal prayer life.
Ibáñez was a letrado who with Teresa’s influence moved toward the ideals of the espirituales.
Teresa helped him deepen his spiritual experience, and he used his position of authority within the Church to help her in her first reformatory action: the foundation of St. Joseph. Ibáñez’s influence on Teresa’s life played a great role in the firm establishment of her theological beliefs.
As she was beginning to gain more confidence in the beliefs of her new spirituality, he encouraged her to pursue her mystical experiences further and to move toward reformatory action. It was to Ibáñez that she would write the first account of her life and experiences in prayer, which would later become her Life, which is arguably Teresa’s most subversive action.
Later she added to the account given to Ibáñez while she was living with the Discalced sisters in the newly founded monastery of St. Joseph’s. Her confessor during her time there was
García of Toledo, another Dominican priest who shared a similar interest as Ibáñez in learning about supernatural prayer from Teresa. Therefore he commanded her to write “the history of that foundation and other matters.” The account she wrote for him is an expansion of the one she Smith 34 wrote for Ibáñez, because García of Toledo explicitly asked her to include more specific details about the foundation of St. Josephs and more explanations of her visions and raptures. This account that Teresa wrote at the order of Toledo is the account which still persists today.
A final Dominican confessor of Teresa’s worthy of mention here is Father Domingo
Báñez . He held the position of her confessor from 1561-1567 and he, in conjunction with
Toledo, ordered the second writing of her Life . As a result, the direct references to an explicit reader found throughout her Life refer to these three Dominican confessors. The fact that she was writing instructions to the men from whom she was supposed to seek spiritual direction greatly affected her writing style. The very act of ordering her to write these instructions put
Teresa in a binding situation. Women were expected to submit to their authorities, and were prohibited from assuming instructional roles. Humility was considered the most holy characteristic of a woman, and teaching or instructing a man was considered prideful. Therefore,
Teresa found herself in a position where the only way to obey her confessors’ orders was to perform an action that was considered prideful by the Church institution. The way Teresa deals with this predicament is by strongly emphasizing her humility.
Báñez also commanded her to write some of her later works and played a large part in revising and censoring her writings. Because Báñez was held in high regard within the
Inquisitional committee, he had much authority in the censure and persecution of threatening ideology, such as Teresa. He also deposited his personal copy of her Life with the Inquisition in
Madrid with a favorable report and a censure, which protected Teresa and her works from the flames of the Inquisition (Williams 33). This is another example of her liberal thinking confessors using their position of authority within the Church to help Teresa defy the institution. Smith 35
The Dominican Order had an unquestionable influence on Teresa, as she had profitable relationships with many Dominican confessors. Because the scholastic charism of the
Dominican Order resulted in the presence of many letrado priests, Teresa found herself in connection with many very learned and prestigious men in the order. Their educational focus also explains the importance they place on theological literature, and their reasons for commanding Teresa to produce works that would add to that genre. Their command for her to write her experiences resulted in Teresa’s most influential act, as her literary works have influenced millions over the generations. Ibáñez, Toledo, and Báñez provide three examples of these learned Dominican priests whose interaction with Teresa produced a more liberal thinking, and caused them to assume more e spiritual ideologies. And like Teresa, they adopted this new spirituality without compromising or questioning the Doctrine of the Church or challenging its authority. These priests provided Teresa with an example of how to find authority in submission, and also were responsible for giving Teresa some of her authority to reform her order.
The Jesuits
As Teresa began to receive supernatural favors in prayer, few people she knew had enough experience with it to give her proper advice. That is why Teresa expresses so much relief and gratitude upon meeting the Fathers of the Company of Jesus, as the Jesuits are often referred in Spanish. Teresa expresses a desire to have interaction with this group of holy people solely based upon their reputation. She describes seeking “diligently after spiritual persons with whom to discuss this. I already knew of some, for the Fathers of the Company of Jesus had Smith 36 come here, and, though, I was unacquainted with any of them, I was attracted to them by my knowledge of their method of life and prayer alone” ( Life 146).
When she first began receiving her spiritual encounters, her Dominican priests refused to be her confessor and looking back, she claims that “I see now that it was all for my good, so that
I should get to know and consult people as holy as those of the Company of Jesus ( Life 148).
Not knowing what to do with her, Daza and Salcedo told her “the wisest thing for me to do would be to discuss it with a Father of the Company of Jesus…these Fathers were men of great experience in spiritual matters” ( Life 151). The first Jesuit to whom Teresa made confession was
Juan de Prádanos. Ribera explains “Topóla Dios luego en la Compañía con lo que había menester, porque comenzó a tratar con un Padre (aunque no de muchos años) de mucha religión y prudencia. Este Padre, me dicen, la dio parte de los ejercicios de la Compañía, y ella hizo con
él su confesión, y él la animó mucho y la dijo que aquel era espíritu de Dios claramente, pero que era menester tornar de nuevo a la oración, porque no iba bien fundada, ni se había dado a la mortificación” (Ribera 133).
Prádanos was such a pivotal figure in Teresa’s life, as he was the one who first imparted the Jesuit theology to Teresa. Teresa marks her first encounter with the Jesuits as one of the most significant events in her spiritual growth at the outset of her Life (27). He was the first person to tell Teresa that her experiences in prayer were the work of the Spirit of God and that she ought to continue in prayer, but that she was not working upon a good foundation and must rid her soul of all sin. She remarks a noticeable difference in the state of her soul as she began to realize the gravity of the effects of sin on the soul and to make changes in her habits, exclaiming that he “led me along paths which seemed to make me quite a different person” (Life 152).
Prádanos also told her that she should not seek after the consolations of spiritual favors, but only Smith 37 to focus on the Passion and Christ’s Humanity, desiring only to help Jesus bear the Cross and resisting favors as best she could. Therefore the Jesuit ideals of practicing spiritual prayer, understanding the gravity of sin, and meditating on Christ’s Passion and Humanity were instilled on Teresa via Prádanos.
Another significant aspect of Teresa’s relationship with Prádanos is the method in which he directed her. Ribera notes, “El confesor suyo de la Compañía andaba con ella con mucha cordura y discreción y no la apretaba, antes parecía que hacía poco caso de todo, esperando a que la Majestad de Dios fuese obrando en aquella alma y mudándola” (Ribera 133). Prádanos played an indirect role as Teresa’s spiritual director, encouraging her to first seek direction from God and afterward he would provide his opinion. Thus, Prádanos served as an overseer of Teresa’s relationship with God, rather than an essential point of access. Teresa describes his direction as
“he led me by the way of love for God” ( Life 153). This type of ecclesiastical instruction was revolutionary in the traditional structure of the Church, where priests ensured that their parishioners were reliant upon them. Instead the Jesuits gave the laity authority to seek God for direction in their lives independently. This influence is reflected in her Life through Teresa’s view of the role of her confessors. Although she employs submissive language, Teresa’s underlying tone is authoritative because she writes as though God is her sole authority, and her confessors are simply one category of instruments God uses to lead her.
While Teresa was still making confession to Prádanos, Avila was visited by Father
Francis Borgia, former Duke of Gandía who had given up that position to enter the Company of
Jesus. Prádanos arranged for Teresa to meet with him and discuss her experiences in prayer because he was known “to be very proficient in this and to be receiving great favours and graces from God” ( Life 154). Borgia confirmed that Teresa was being led by the Spirit of God and told Smith 38 her that it was not right for her to continue resisting the favors, although until then it had been right to do so, as she had been commanded by her confessor. Teresa was greatly encouraged by the advice of this man of prayer, as Ribera explains “Con este Padre se consoló ella mucho, porque le preguntó muchas cosas y, como hombre de mucha experiencia en ellas, la satisfizo”
(135).
Prádanos was transferred elsewhere after serving only a few months as Teresa’s confessor. Teresa was very distressed by this occurrence, because she feared that she “should be bound to grow wicked again, not supposing that it would be possible to find another like him”
(Life 154). Fortunately for Teresa it was at this time that she met Doña Giuomar Ulloa, a widow who was very involved with the Jesuits and would later become one of Teresa’s closest friends.
Doña Giuomar arranged for Teresa to make confession to her confessor, Father Baltasar Álarez.
This confessor ended up being one of the best directors St. Teresa ever had (Peers 155 footnote) and served as her confessor from 1559-1564. He continued in directing Teresa in the Jesuit theology and led her in the same indirect way as Prádanos had, encouraging her to seek the Lord for answers before giving her his opinion. It was during one instance where Álvarez had advised her to seek the Lord in such a way that Teresa received her first rapture. Teresa’s supernatural encounters greatly increased and her soul matured under his direction. He also helped her through some of her most difficult and subversive tasks such as the founding of St. Joseph and the writing of her Life .
The Franciscans
When speaking of the shaping of Teresa’s theology, one cannot fail to mention a third order: the Franciscans. While Teresa never had a Franciscan confessor, she was nonetheless Smith 39 greatly influenced by their theology. Most Teresian scholars give credit to the Franciscans for the flowering mysticism in sixteenth century Spain (Ahlgren 9, Williams 30). The ideals generated from the Franciscan Reform a century earlier combined with their missionary focus led to the widespread dispersal of their reformatory theology. Some of the key characteristics of this movement include the translation of Scriptures and theological texts into vernacular language, emphasis on mental prayer, and laity, including women, having authoritative roles in their own spiritual development.
Teresa’s subversive ideology against the Church began early on in her religious vocation, when she spent much of her time reading theological books. Her zeal for learning is most likely due to the Dominican influence and Teresa combines this with the Carmelite charism of contemplative prayer, explaining how early in her practice of prayer she uses good spiritual books as an aid in mental prayer ( Life 24). Therefore, Teresa came across books concerning
Franciscan ideals of mental prayer. Perhaps the most notable influence was Francisco de
Osuna’s The Third Spiritual Alphabet, from which she began to learn how to pray. She comments “I did not know how to practise prayer, or how to recollect myself, and so I was delighted with the book and determined to follow that way of prayer with all my might” ( Life
23). Through the explanations that this book provided, Teresa attained an understanding that would become her foundation for prayer.
Teresa suggests that this book replaced the role of a confessor in her life saying “For I found no other guide (no confessor, I mean) who understood me, thought I sought one for fully twenty years subsequently to the time I am speaking of” ( Life 23). This supplemental information concerning confessors was likely added as a protective strategy, Teresa’s defense for exploring such a controversial resource during that time period. Her justification was that she Smith 40 had been looking for a confessor during this time, and not finding one who could help her, she had to seek spiritual guidance from mystical literature. This puts the blame on the institution, rather than herself.
Another significant Franciscan literary work that Teresa mentions in her Life is The
Ascent of Mount Sion by Bernardino de Laredo. She recalls turning to this source in order to explain her spiritual experiences to Salcedo when she was incapable of finding words to describe them. She explains that this book “describes the union of the soul with God, all the symptoms I had when I was unable to think of anything” ( Life 149). Although this book did not have as profound an impact on the formation of Teresa’s theology as Osuna’s book, it was influential in the sense that it confirmed and validated Teresa’s experiences at a time when she found no confessor who was able to do so.
Later, Teresa had less need to rely on literary resources, partially because as she had confessors from the Company of Jesus who had more experience with supernatural experiences in prayer and could advise her personally and partially because God Himself taught her what she needed to know. She relates one instance where she was distressed by the removal of many great books, due to the 1559 Valdés Index of Forbidden Books. Then the Lord consoled her by telling her “Be not distressed, for I will give thee a living book” ( Life 168). At first she did not know what that meant, as she had not yet had any visions, but she soon found out when the Lord began granting her spiritual vision and “the Lord showed me so much love and taught me by so many methods, that I have had very little need of books—indeed, hardly any” ( Life 168). Checa uses this instance to prove Teresa’s new spiritual ideal which placed more importance on spiritual experience than on formal learning. He concludes “Seguramente bajo la sombra de semejante prohibición inquisitorial, Santa Teresa refiere en el capitulo 26 de la Vida cómo una vez Dios, Smith 41 durante una aparición, le consoló con las siguientes palabras: <
Divinidad pasa a ocupar el sitio de la letra impresa” (Checa 109).
Another great Franciscan influence on Saint Teresa is her good friend Peter of Alcántara.
Alcántara was a Franciscan priest who is widely known for his lifestyle of poverty and severe penances. Teresa always speaks very highly of him and mentions instances where she turned to him for counsel. She sought his opinion when beginning the work of founding the monastery of
St. Joseph. Teresa expresses her gratitude to him and describes his devotion to her saying “for the Lord was pleased to give him this love [for me] so that he might stand up for me and encourage me at a time of great need, of which I have spoken and shall speak further” (Life 176).
Alcántara provided Teresa with a model of humility, holiness, and service of God that surpassed all her other contemporaries. For this reason, she admired him and looked to him as an example of how to live her life and frequently sought his counsel and always followed his advice.
These three orders, the Dominicans, Jesuits, and Franciscans, played the greatest role in
Reforming the Catholic Church. While holding a theology that favored the new Renaissance spirituality, they maintained loyalty to and a strong devotion for the institution of the Catholic
Church. Because they did not outright oppose the structure of the institution, but rather patiently and submissively worked within the system, they were able to reform the institution. Teresa held the exact same balance of beliefs, due to her background with the Carmelite contemplative prayer and the Dominican love for education. Therefore she enthusiastically accepted the Jesuit and Franciscan ideology, and did her part to reform the Catholic Church. Her work in founding the monastery at St. Joseph led to the formation of a new order, the Discalced Carmelites. This order maintains the Carmelite tradition of contemplative (mystical) prayer but upholds the strict Smith 42 regulations of primitive rule of the order. These foundational principles characterize the paradox of Teresa’s life: the authority she finds in submission.
Chapter 4
The result: Teresa’s power in her paradoxical writing style
Teresa’s ultimate authority
Although Teresa usually submitted to the orders of her confessors, her ultimate authority came from God. Her love for God and her faithfulness to His commandments was the motivation behind her consistent submission to the Church. Teresa revered and obeyed the Holy
Scriptures, which place a great deal of importance upon humility and submission. A few examples include, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” ( The NIV Student
Bible , Prov. 3.34, Js. 4.6, 1 Pet 5.5) “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Js 4:7) “For whoever exalts himself with be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt. 23.12, Lk. 14.11, Lk. 18.14) and “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2.5-9). Teresa learned this
Scriptural truth of the importance of humility and submission through her personal spiritual Smith 43 experiences, as she explains “The entire foundation of prayer must be established in humility, and that, the more a soul abases itself in prayer, the higher God raises it” (Life 141). Teresa obeyed her superiors because they were the God-established authority within the Church,
Christ’s body used for God’s service on earth. Therefore their authority was given them directly from God.
However, there were instances where the orders that Teresa received from her confessors contradicted a word that she had received directly from the Lord. During these cases, Teresa was conflicted about what action to take until God gave her the answer. Teresa explains “Whenever the Lord gave me some command in prayer and the confessor told me to do something different, the Lord Himself would speak to me again and tell me to obey Him; and His Majesty would then change the confessor’s mind so that he came back and ordered me to do the same thing” (Life
168). Teresa’s most subversive actions can be described as this type of experience, especially her actions of founding the first convent in the reformed order of the Discalced Carmelites and incorporating her Renaissance theology into her Life , which was supposed to be solely a description of the spiritual favors which the Lord granted her.
As already mentioned, the very act of writing of her Life contradicted the image of the ideal submissive and humble woman. Therefore Teresa’s exaggerated use of humility as a rhetorical device in order to prove her credibility can explain one reason for her paradoxical writing style (Weber). Another explanation of her ironic style is this conflict between divine authority and ecclesiastical. Checa notes these distinct influences, saying “Así, pues, según se tenga en cuenta la experiencia enunciativa del decir o la experiencia mística de lo dicho, los textos de Santa Teresa estipulan dos espacios de interacción y diálogo (social e íntimo respectivamente). Sus agentes son en principio separables: el yo autorial y sus lectores, por un Smith 44 lado, Dios y el alma, por otro” (67). Teresa struggled to find words not only to describe her supernatural experiences, but to do so in a way that conformed to the desires of her confessors.
Therefore the conflict resulting from this double demand aids in producing her contradictory manner, as proposed by Rodríguez-Guridi “En el Libro de su vida Teresa da voz al conflicto personal que experimenta entre una doble demanda, la de sus confesores y la de su deseo…El conflicto interno que vive Teresa al tener que reprimir su voz para ajustarse constantemente a los postulados del orden masculino va a derivar, paradojicamente, en un discurso híbrido, polifónico y ambiguo que, caracterizado por su marginalidad, pueda dar cabida y expresión a su voz y a su deseo” (Rodríguez-Guridi 452-3).
Contemporary Teresian scholars claim that Teresa’s paradoxical writing style was an intentional rhetorical device through which she attempted to defy and subvert the Catholic
Church (Weber and Perez-Romero). However, it just as rational that her writing style is the natural result of the conflict she observed between her ideal perception of divine truth and the actual implementation by a faulty human institution. Teresa whole-heartedly believed in the divine truths established by God, including humility and a woman’s submission to ecclesiastical authority. The problems arose when the human authority contradicted something she knew from experience to be the work of God. However, she found the strength to overcome such contradictory situations by remaining loyal to the truths she knew to be authentic, even when the truth was corrupted by the human institution. Weber makes clear this struggle “Historically the alliance between mysticism and Church has often been an uneasy one, for the mystic’s ineffable, anti-intellectual experience of the divine is, ultimately, nonhierarchical and antiinstitutional.
Nonetheless, Teresa moved between orthodoxy and heterodoxy, holding the explosive theological issues of her day in oxymoronic tension and came perilously close to losing all” (35). Smith 45
However, Teresa did not lose all. In fact she did quite the opposite, as is demonstrated by “the hundreds of editions and translations of her works, her canonization in 1622, and perhaps most significantly and most ironically in her election as Doctor of the Church in 1969” (Weber 35).
Teresa’s paradoxical writing style is a result of her paradoxical life: achieving exultation through humility, exercising subversion through compliance, exerting defiance through obedience and attaining success and authority through submission.
Smith 46
Works Cited
Primary work:
Teresa of Avila. The Book of Her Life, in Complete Works of Saint Teresa of Jesus . Trans. E.
Allison Peers. Vol. 1. London; New York: Sheed & Ward, 1957. Print.
Secondary works:
Ahlgren, Gillian T.W. Teresa of Avila and the Politics of Sanctity . Ithaca; London: Cornell
University Press, 1996. Print.
Bilinkoff, Jodi. The Avila of Saint Teresa: Religious Reform in a Sixteenth-Century City. Ithaca;
London: Cornell University Press, 1989. Print.
Checa Cremades, Jorge. Experiencia y representación en el Siglo de Oro. Valladolid: Junta de
Castilla y León, 1998. Print.
Lewis, David. Preface. The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of The Order of Our Lady of Carmel . By
Teresa of Jesus. Trans. David Lewis. London: Thomas Baker; New York: Benziger
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Lincoln, Victoria. Teresa, A Woman : A Biography of Teresa of Avila. Albany: State University
of New York Press, 1984. Print.
Perez-Romero, Antonio. Subversion and Liberation in the Writings of St. Teresa of Ávila.
Amsterdam; Atlanta: Rodopi B.V., 1996. Print.
Ribera, P. Francisco, La vida de la madre Teresa de Jesus: Fundadora de las Descalzas y
Descalzos Carmelitas . Madrid: Edibesa, 2004. Print.
Rodríguez-Guridi, Elena. “Pasajes para perderse: La probematica de la escritura de Teresa de
Avila en el Libro de su vida.” Neophilologus 94.3 (2010): 451-458. Web. 1 May 2011. Smith 47
The NIV Student Bible, Revised . Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. Print.
Weber, Alison. Teresa of Avila and the Rhetoric of Femininity . Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1990. Print.
Williams, Rowan. Teresa of Avila . London ; New York : Routledge, 2000. Print.