Teresa of Avila : The Progress of a Soul

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Historical Account of a Female Saint
Review: I greatly enjoyed reading Cathleen Medwick's extraordinarily detailed biography of Saint Teresa of Avila. Saint Teresa shines forth as a fascinating historical figure in TERESA OF AVILA: THE PROGRESS OF A SOUL because she seemed to have an innate ability to continually seek the highest possible spiritual path throughout her life. Whenever temptation arose, she was willing to do whatever might be necessary to right herself again -- regardless whether the form of temptation or evil took human or supernatural form.

Medwick maintains a detached tone throughout this riveting story, which provides one with a better idea of what it was like to live in Saint Teresa's time (with the Inquisition wreaking havoc in the lives of some spiritual people). Descriptions of how Teresa must have felt as she experienced amazing spiritual epiphanies are handled with grace and aplomb by Medwick, who shares the facts without ever stooping to speculation nor overly exalting Teresa.

I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to better understand what life was like for a spiritual woman in 16th century Europe whose utmost desire was to be as close to God as possible.

Rating:
Summary: A nice enough tale about an important saint
Review: Some reviewers complain this book does not describe Teresa's mysticism. This is true. Perhaps the subtitle is confusing, but the inside jacket flap will tell you there will be little mysticism discussed in the book. For those of you considering this book over the Internet, let me reiterate: this is not a book on mysticism.

That said, this compelling book describes the life of one of Catholicism's most prominent saints. It works as a foil to the saint's own writings. Reading Teresa's works alone tell you little about her world. Lacking context, you cannot hope to understand why she was writing what she wrote, the way she wrote it, and what she was really trying to say (without saying it directly). Medwick does not psychoanalyze Teresa. The book is a rather dry history.

For this reason, I *really* recommend Gillian Ahlgren's "Teresa of Avila and the Politics of Sanctity" and Alison Weber's "Teresa of Avila and the Rhetoric of Femininity". These two books more clearly depict the contours of the battles between Teresa and the Church. As a woman mystic, Teresa caused all sorts of problems: women could not teach theology, yet she was a teacher. Following her death, the Church "de-feminized" the saint in a process sad, chilling, and instructive. Unfortunately, these two books are fairly academic - big words, complex sentences, and sometimes impenetrable logic. (A warning to those who avoid those sort of things.)

Rating:
Summary: A Labor of Love
Review: This book was assigned for me to read in view of perhaps using it for a study group at my church, so I read it pretty closely. Cathleen Medwick must have spent years researching her topic with love and dedication: the book follows Teresa of Avila very closely and we come away feeling that we have been in the presence of a towering spirit, though always down to earth, humble, and obedient to her superiors as expected from a dutiful nun, who also happens to experience unbelievable extasies while remaining extremely business-savvy and diplomatic. The book is extremely well written, and the passages that are translated from Teresa's own writings are lively and engaging. It made me want to read Teresa's own works, especially her "Vida" and "The Interior Castle." One caution: Medwik doesn't baby her readers, and if she's first translated a Spanish word or term, she will be using that word without translation in the rest of the book, so you have to pay attention. I had trouble with the hundreds of characters that are introduced in this book with whom Teresa had dealings during her long life, but only very few take on flesh and bones in this biography beside herself and some of her confessors. An index of Spanish words, and a list of characters might have been helpful to the distracted reader. A very thorough scholarly work that can be enjoyed by any serious reader eager to get acquainted with Teresa's life and times.