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Finding God in All Things: Teresa of Ávila's Use of The FINDING GOD IN ALL THINGS: TERESA OF ÁVILA‘S USE OF THE FAMILIAR A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese by Elaini G. Tsoukatos Washington, DC June 24, 2011 Copyright 2011 by Elaini G. Tsoukatos All Rights Reserved ii FINDING GOD IN ALL THINGS: TERESA OF ÁVILA’S USE OF THE FAMILIAR Elaini G. Tsoukatos, M.S. Thesis Advisor: Dr. Barbara Mujica, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Even a superficial reader of Saint Teresa's works will notice the abundance of images that fill the pages. Why does Teresa use so many images? Where do they come from? What do they tell us about her inner life and her and the world she inhabits? The objective of my dissertation is to analyze the metaphors that Teresa of Ávila uses in her four major works: Libro de la vida (begun in 1562 and completed in 1565), El camino de perfección (c. 1566), Las fundaciones (1573), and Las moradas or El castillo interior (1577). I will focus first on Teresa‘s biography, especially the sources and essence of her spirituality, in order to explain her need for images. Next, I will explore images drawn from both literary sources and from Teresa‘s everyday life. In addition, I will show how Teresa‘s choice of images provides us with knowledge about early modern Spain. Teresa‘s images taken from the natural world, the world of merchants and markets, money and jewels, the domus, or the hearth, and architecture, become the mediating bodies whose overarching purpose is to show the inward movement of mental prayer. Thus, Teresa is able to translate her own apophatic experiences kataphatically, and so reconcile the tension between the ―image-less‖ experience of ineffable transcendence and a didactic expression grounded in images. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the friendship and memory of my sister-in-law, Theodora (Roula) Anagnostakis and my Georgetown classmate, Karalyn Schneider-Diaz. Let nothing disturb you Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing upset you. Everything changes. God alone is unchanging. With patience all things are possible. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone is enough. St. Teresa of Ávila iv Acknowledgements My first and most sincere thanks go to Dr. Bárbara Mujica for her dedication and patience through all my drafts and re-writes and for her constant, yet gentle encouragement. Dr. Mujica‘s classes in early modern women writers and early mystics, as well as all her outstanding scholarly writing on Teresa of Ávila, have truly been an inspiration to me. Most of all, I would like to thank Dr. Mujica for introducing me to Teresa of Ávila. Reading and learning about Teresa came at a time in my life when I readily found consolation from unanticipated events that entered my seemingly calm life. I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to Dr. Gwen Kirkpatrick and Father Stephen Fields, who kindly took time from their busy schedules to serve on my dissertation defense committee. I have been truly honored to have such wonderful scholars on my committee. To Kathleen Kish – my sincere gratitude for her insightful comments, edits, and encouragement in the dissertation process. To my wonderful family – my devoted husband George, and my children, Pantelis, Zoe, and Petros - I am truly indebted to you for your patience and encouragement throughout the dissertation writing. Your continued support only reinforces the qualities of love and strength of our family. Up to a few years, Teresa of Ávila was relatively unknown to my family; she now has a special place in my household and will hopefully be daily in our lives among the ―pots and pans‖ to provide the spiritual nourishment to all of us. v A special appreciation goes to my Georgetown classmate Maria-Elvira Luna-Escudero- Alie, who constantly kept me ―in-check‖ and encouraged me during my ―dry spells‖. Thanks! And, last but not least, a thank you to Ana Ulrich, Mount Saint Mary‘s University librarian, (as well her library colleagues), who kept my Teresian ―collection‖ well-stocked. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page………………………………………………………………………………i Copyright page…………………………………………………………………………ii Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………….iii Dedication ……………………………………………………………………………..iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………… v, vi Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………vii CHAPTERS: Introduction................................................................................................................ 1-12 I. The Natural World and the Interior World…………………………………………13-52 II. Merchant and Markets…..…………………………………………………….….. 53-76 III. Money and Jewels – God‘s Spiritual Wealth……………….…………………….77-84 IV. The Feminine Space of Domesticity – the Hearth……………………………..... 85-122 V. Architectural Space – the Spiritual Journey……………………………………….123-163 VI. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………. 164-174 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………. 175-196 vii INTRODUCTION Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), one of the most famous mystics of sixteenth-century Spain, was influential in transforming spiritual thought in her period. Her writing, which reflects her mystical journey into the innermost depths of her soul to find God through recogimiento or recollection, did not exist in a vacuum. The Bible served Teresa as a source of imagery. By the time Teresa began to write, the 1559 Valdés Index had prohibited most translations of the Bible as well as many religious books by contemporary authors. However, Teresa would have been familiar with such imagery through previous readings and through sermons, which were replete with Biblical imagery. In addition, Teresa‘s predecessors, among whom were Francisco de Osuna, Bernardo de Laredo, and Pedro de Alcántara, provided models for expressing spiritual experience through imagery taken from the everyday, material world. Writing in colloquial prose, Teresa makes use of ―harto groseras comparaciones‖ in order to express spiritual experience that defies comprehension. Throughout her writing she integrates familiar imagery taken from the everyday ―sensible‖ world of her sixteenth-century Castilian environment in order to communicate her message to her audience. Through imagery grounded in shared experience, Teresa seeks to describe the steps toward mystical union in ways that will be intelligible to people who may not have experienced it. Such homey language also helps to protect Teresa from accusations of pretentiousness and pride (since women were forbidden to sermonize or teach doctrine) by depicting her as a simple, uneducated, plain-spoken woman. Teresa explains her mystical journey through diverse metaphors for the soul and God. The soul is a ―mariposa‖ (moth). It begins its life as a lowly ―worm‖ or caterpillar that ―dies‖ to its old life (suffers a conversion) to be reborn as a moth that is drawn to the light. Or the soul is a 1 ―tortuga‖ (a turtle) that retracts into itself, moving inward toward darkness. God is a ―King‖ waiting for his Bride in the innermost mansion of the diamond castle that is the soul. Teresa repeatedly searches for the right metaphor to make her spiritual experience understood. Only through imagery can Teresa explain the essence of her spirituality to her confessors, Inquisitors, nuns, and other readers. In the Book of her Life or Libro de la vida (begun in 1562 and completed in 1565), written at the request of her spiritual directors, Teresa gives an account of her method of prayer and describes her life from within the interior convent walls. Because this book falls into the hands of the Inquisitors, it is not accessible to her nuns. At their insistence and at the request of her confessor, Friar Domingo Báñez, to ―write something about prayer,‖ Teresa produces her Way of Perfection or Camino de perfección (c. 1566). This book, primarily a defense of mental prayer for women, serves as a didactic work for nuns, advocating the contemplative ideal that was fundamental to her reform. Here, like Saint Augustine, Teresa explains how to find God within oneself, carefully detailing the differences between the prayer of active and infused recollection. Way of Perfection, which outlines the instruction of her sisters at St. Joseph‘s while stressing the importance of fortifying and defending her Carmelite community against Protestants and against the ―small temptations of the devil,‖ is the least controversial of her writings. In her Book of Foundations or Libro de las fundaciones (1573), Teresa details her efforts to establish her ―dove-cotes,‖ as she calls her houses or convents, throughout Spain, ―without even a maravedí,‖ thanks to God‘s guidance. The Book of Foundations illustrates how she networks and uses her political acumen. It also shows her practical side, how she manages to 2 borrow meager straw mattresses and utensils for her convents, for example. In addition, Teresa proves to be a shrewd businesswoman, procuring silk hangings for convents through her patrons‘ generous donations. Foundations illustrates how knowledgeable Teresa was about matters of commerce, fundraising, and law, which explains why she often had recourse to metaphors related to these areas when describing spiritual issues. Teresa‘s final book, Interior Castle or Castillo interior, also called Las moradas (1577), abounds in metaphors. Written at the behest of Father Jerónimo Gracián, one of her dearest friends and a cherished spiritual director, it describes the soul‘s journey to God through the
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