Turning to Teresa of Avila

James Finley (0:01)

Greetings, I'm Jim Finley.

Kirsten Oates (0:04)

And I'm Kirsten Oates.

James Finley (0:05)

Welcome to Turning to the Mystics.

Kirsten Oates (0:15)

Welcome, everyone. Jim and I are so excited to be launching season two of Turning to the Mystics. In this podcast, Jim uses the ancient practice of lexio to help us turn to Christian and other mystics for trustworthy guidance on what matters most. In this episode, Jim will be introducing us to the mystic we'll be turning to in season two, Saint Teresa of Avila, a 16th century Spanish Christian mystic.

Then we'll be returning to the practice of lexio using Teresa's text, The Interior Castle. So Jim, can you let us know why you chose Teresa as our second mystic?

James Finley (0:59)

Well, I would say first, I began this series with Thomas Merton. I chose him first because one, he was my teacher at the monastery.

And also, he's contemporary, he speaks our language. And therefore, he's more accessible to us in terms of a mystic teacher in the Christian tradition.

And then having finished this series on Merton, I thought Teresa would be a good one to follow, do next, because one, it would be good to move from Thomas Merton to a woman mystic. And also, Teresa, because she's one of the mystics that has had a very kind of deep effect on me in my life personally. And therefore, she's just really a good resource to have in terms of trustworthy spiritual guidance in following this path. So I'm choosing her next for those reasons.

Kirsten Oates (2:05)

And now will you give us a bit of an introduction into who Teresa was and the book of hers that you're going to focus on and explore with us?

James Finley (2:15)

That's right. I'm going to begin first then, as we'll do with each of these mystics, by a brief little biographical sketch of who she was historically to help us begin to understand who she is spiritually. So very briefly then, who she was in time.

That Teresa was born in 1515 in Spain, where she lived her life until her death in 1582 at 67 years of age.

As a young woman, she entered the cloistered Carmelite convent of the Incarnation just outside the medieval walled city of Avila and lived there as a cloistered nun. And in her life as a cloistered nun in the monastery, she began to experience graces in prayer, like being drawn into these more mystical states of Christ consciousness or oneness with God in prayer.

And for example, she writes in her life, her spiritual memoir, that she was at one point caught up in a political conflict that was going on in the monastery. The nuns were divided and conflicted over something. While she was in prayer, she heard an inner voice. God's saying to her, Teresa, why are you concerned about such things? Seek me. And so she records a series of moments like this where she was drawn into this very deep state. And so when the sisters there in the community sense this depth in her, they ask her if she, under obedience really, to write like, help us, help us. So maybe you can help us to experience what you're experiencing. And so she wrote her life, her spiritual, the memoir. She wrote a second volume called The Way of Perfection in which she further refines how to discern these deepening states of consciousness, grace, consciousness and prayer, and how to cooperate with them and so on. And then toward the end of her life, she again was asked under obedience to write a third book on prayer, Union with God in Prayer, which is the book we're going through now, The Interior Castle. So it's significant because it's toward the end of her life so she's at the heights of her powers really as a mystic and as kind of a well-seasoned mystic teacher in the Christian tradition. And so The Cloud of Unknowing is one of the great literary masterpieces, classical works in the Christian, in this Christian lineage. Also at the time, this was going on right around the time of the writing of the castle, is she was also feeling called to bring about a reform of the Carmelite order that she was in. Basically as a return to a more primitive observance of prayer, poverty and simplicity. And this is where she then asked St. John of the Cross, who was just newly ordained at the time, to join her so that he could reform the men, the friars, the Carmelite priests, and she would reform the sisters. And of course, John of the Cross went on himself to be himself a great mystic teacher. And so they were close friends in real life, but also they're two great teachers who live side by side, each with their own teaching, their own gifts to offer us.