The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Eire Carlos;
Author:Eire, Carlos; [Eire, Carlos;]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780691164939
Publisher: PrincetonUP
Published: 2019-03-28T00:00:00+00:00
Wayward Disciples
Teresaâs influence, as well as that of her Vida, did not always flow in a positive direction in the eyes of the Catholic Church. In religion, more so than in other human endeavors, the interpretation of any text is a wild card, unpredictable and always potentially susceptible to unexpected twists and turns, often of an ironic sort. Consequently, despite all of the acclaim and veneration earned by Teresa and her Vida in Catholic culture, some of her interpreters ended up on the side of heresy rather than orthodoxy. The two most significant of these wrong turns were the theological and devotional movements known as Jansenism and Quietism.
Jansenism was a reformist movement within early modern Catholicism that focused primarily on theological and ethical issues rather than mysticism, but nonetheless had an odd connection to Teresa, her Vida, and other books of hers. The theologian who gave rise to this movement was Cornelius Jansen (1585â1638), a Dutch theologian from the University of Louvain who was also bishop of Ypres. Jansenâs chief interest was the relation between the human will and divine grace. In 1640, his massive posthumously published study of Saint Augustineâs theology of grace, titled Augustinus, won him a substantial following, and before long, a powerful movement arose within the Catholic Church that bore Jansenâs name and occasioned the âJansenistâ controversy, the most serious rift among Catholics since the advent of the Protestant Reformation.
Jansenismâs links to Teresa were not to be found in Jansen or his theology, however, which stressed the damage caused to humanity by original sin and advocated a rigorous puritanical ethic. The connection to Teresa was to be found most intensely in the Cistercian abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs, a convent in France that became the epicenter of Jansenism, where several key figures were highly devoted to Teresa and very fond of her Vida. The most significant of these Teresians at Port-Royal was its abbess, Jacqueline-Marie-Angélique Arnauld (1591â1661), who, after reading Teresaâs Vida, Way of Perfection, and Foundations began to reform her convent in 1609 along Teresian lines, emphasizing strict enclosure, poverty, and silent prayer. In fact, so much emphasis was placed on Teresa at Port-Royal by its abbess Angélique that her fellow nuns began to refer to her as âthe Teresa of our order.â In 1625, when Angélique opened another reformed convent of Port-Royal in Paris, she immediately visited the Discalced Carmelite nuns of that city, all of whom began to call her âMadre Teresaâ because of how much she resembled their sainted reformer, not just in spirit but also in physical appearance.17 In addition, Angéliqueâs oldest brother, Robert Arnauld dâAndilly (1589â1674), a distinguished writer who would later spend his final years at the abbey of Port-Royal as a hermit, produced one of the most widely read translations of Teresaâs works, including the Vida.
The nunsâ devotion to Teresa at Port-Royal was eventually eclipsed by the Jansenist theology of several individuals who became associated with their convent, most notably, two of Angéliqueâs brothers, the above-mentioned Robert Arnauld and Antoine
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly(2876)
The Social Psychology of Inequality by Unknown(2291)
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett(2239)
Day by Elie Wiesel(2231)
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein(1820)
Angels of God: The Bible, the Church and the Heavenly Hosts by Mike Aquilina(1618)
Human Design by Chetan Parkyn(1565)
Augustine: Conversions to Confessions by Robin Lane Fox(1465)
The Supreme Gift by Paulo Coelho(1435)
Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin(1380)
7 Secrets of Divine Mercy by Vinny Flynn(1380)
Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger(1362)
The Vatican Pimpernel by Brian Fleming(1330)
Dark Mysteries of the Vatican by H. Paul Jeffers(1328)
Saints & Angels by Doreen Virtue(1302)
St. Thomas Aquinas by G. K. Chesterton(1290)
My Daily Catholic Bible, NABRE by Thigpen Edited by Dr. Paul(1201)
Called to Life by Jacques Philippe(1194)
The Ratline by Philippe Sands(1154)