Boston University OpenBU http://open.bu.edu Theses & Dissertations STH Theses and Dissertations 2013-09 Friendship with the Saints: A Practical Theological Reading of Teresa of Avila as a Spiritual Companion Soughers, Tara K https://hdl.handle.net/2144/8471 Boston University BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY Dissertation FRIENDSHIP WITH THE SAINTS: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL READING OF TERESA OF AVILA AS A SPIRITUAL COMPANION By Tara K. Soughers (B.S., New Mexico Tech, 1981; M.A., Rice University, 1985; M.Div., Virginia Theological Seminary, 1990) Submitted in partial fulfillment of Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Copyright© 2013 by Tara K. Soughers All rights reserved. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………….….....vi ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….…………....viii Chapter I. SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP WITH SAINTS: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY STUDY……………………………………..……1 Companionship with Saints The Goal of Transformation in the Study of Spiritual Experience and Practice Appropriation in the Study of Spiritual Experience and Practice Toward a Theological Rationale for Appropriation Teresa of Avila as a Case Study Practical Theology and the Study of Spiritual Experience and Practice Methodology of the Study II. HISTORICAL ISSUES IN THE APPROPRIATION OF SAINTS……..…………...….51 Issues of Appropriation in Contemporary Scholarship Hagiography in Sixteenth-Century Spain: Appropriation of Saints in the Time of Teresa of Avila III. TERESA OF AVILA AND SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP……………..……..……81 Teresa of Avila and Her Writings in Context Teresa of Avila’s Understanding of the Practice of Friendship Spiritual Companionship and Teresa of Avila IV. ANALYSIS OF SELECTED CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE ON SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP…………………………………………………………...……145 Spiritual Companionship and Spiritual Direction Aelred and the Anamchara Movement: Exploring Two Historical Roots of Contemporary Understandings of Spiritual Companionship Spiritual Friendship Today V. TERESA OF AVILA, SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP, AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: A MUTUALLY CRITICAL DIALOGUE…………………...….174 Views of Spiritual Friendship in Dialogue: Teresa of Avila and Contemporary Practice iv Theological Sources for Companionship in the Communion of Saints Spiritual Companionship with the Saints: Practice and Doctrine in Mutually Critical Dialogue VI. PRACTICING SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP WITH THE SAINTS………...……240 Contemporary Practices of Companionship with Saints Teaching the Saints as Spiritual Companions Conclusions BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………..………………...……………………...……280 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). No work, and certainly no dissertation, is ever accomplished solely by one person. In this work, I have been surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses—the communion of saints—and I want to give thanks to some of the saints who have been companions on this journey. The library of the Boston University School of Theology, with its amazing and helpful staff, has been a haven and resource. Particularly, I would like to thank Stacey Battles de Ramos, who helped me to track down many an obscure reference and who answered all questions with cheerfulness and enthusiasm. My thanks go to Courtney Goto, who convinced me that my voice needed to be heard. The committee for my defense, Phillis Isabella Sheppard, Karen Westerfield Tucker, and Wanda Stahl, provided valuable suggestions for the final draft of this dissertation. I would also like to thank Rady Roldán-Figueroa, the second reader of this dissertation. His help was invaluable in pointing me in the right direction in the beginning of my historical research, and his knowledge of sixteenth-century Spain, as well as of the scholarly literature, greatly enriched this dissertation. I want to thank my advisor, Claire E. Wolfteich, for her companionship over the last four years which has gotten me to this point. As an advisor and a mentor, she has exemplified the role of an academic practical theologian. Through what seemed, at times, impenetrable thickets, she was able to find a path that led to the next clearing. Her passion for clear, unambiguous vi writing pushed me to clarify my arguments. Her influence on me, as a practical theologian, and on this dissertation is incalculable. To my closest companions, my family, I offer my love and heartfelt thanks. Without them, none of this would have been possible. In times when I feared that I would fail, Arielle and Gregory asserted their belief in me and offered their help and support. Most of all, I need to thank my husband Mike, who not only took over almost all of the normal family chores, leaving me free to focus on my doctoral work, but also is a proofreader and copyeditor extraordinaire. Finally, I need to acknowledge Teresa of Avila, who has been my companion through the writing of this work. She has taught me much about spiritual companionship across space and time. vii FRIENDSHIP WITH THE SAINTS: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL READING OF TERESA OF AVILA AS A SPIRITUAL COMPANION Tara K. Soughers Doctor of Philosophy Boston University School of Theology, 2013 Major Professor: Claire E. Wolfteich, Associate Professor of Practical Theology and Spiritual Formation ABSTRACT This dissertation is a practical theology study of spiritual companionship with the saints, working with Teresa of Avila as a case study. Teresa’s writing reflects a robust understanding and practice of spiritual companionship with saints. While contemporary literature on spiritual companionship exists and the notion of friendship with saints can be found in some theological works on the communion of saints, practical theology studies that attend to the rich potential and theological meaning of friendship with saints have been lacking. This dissertation seeks to fill that gap, arguing that the relationship of saints to contemporary Christians is one of companionship within the communion of saints. This allows saints to serve as spiritual companions to contemporary Christians in ways that are analogous to contemporary personal relationships of spiritual companionship. This is an interdisciplinary study, working across disciplines of practical theology and spirituality studies while deeply engaging historical studies. Due to the importance of historical context in spirituality studies and concerns with issues of appropriation, the practical theology methodology is modified, strengthening the historical theology movement. The dissertation viii provides a textual and historical-contextual analysis of Teresa of Avila’s understandings and practices of friendship, including friendship with the saints. Current literature on spiritual companionship is explored and brought into a mutually critical dialogue with Teresa’s own descriptions—demonstrating common themes of journey and intimacy, affirmation and challenge, and personal transformation and growth in relationship with God. These themes are placed in dialogue with two contemporary understandings of the communion of saints, Anglican theological reflections based on liturgical practice and Elizabeth Johnson’s systematic treatment, yielding a model for companionship with saints that is grounded in norms of mutuality, deep knowledge, mutually critical dialogue, and living with differences. These norms suggest personal practices of companionship as well as contemplative pedagogical techniques for teaching the saints in an academic setting The dissertation thus presents a practical theology study of spiritual companionship with the saints, rooted in a deep historical-contextual dialogue with Teresa of Avila. It seeks also to demonstrate the value of increased attention to historical studies in practical theology methodology. ix CHAPTER ONE SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP WITH SAINTS: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY STUDY Companionship with Saints Historical documents and the figures behind them are often central to studies in the field of spirituality. Although there are studies that primarily focus upon these texts and figures as objects of historical interest, many scholars in spirituality studies are interested not only in the historical importance of these texts but also in how the historical texts, figures, and practices speak to and inform contemporary spiritual experience and practice. Some of the authors of these studies in spirituality also claim a more direct and personal relationship with the saints1 who began as an object of study, a relationship that is often referred to as companionship or friendship. Through the texts that they have been studying, these scholars have developed a personal relationship with the author.2 In several cases, the authors specifically advocate such a relationship with saints for other Christians as well. However, there has been a lack of practical theology studies of this practice and the theological basis for the idea of spiritual companionship with saints. This dissertation argues that, due to the relationships of companionship that 1. Elizabeth A. Johnson defines saints to include “all persons who respond to the Spirit; they do so through lives that move in the direction of truth and love in the midst of ordinary time, seeking, even if often failing, to be faithful… the community also includes all such persons who have died.” Elizabeth A. Johnson, Friends of God and Prophets: A Feminist Theological Reading of the Communion of Saints (New York: Continuum,