Interior castle

Very deep and spiritually moving. This book shows us how to bet closer to God in prayer. It also exposes traps set by the devil.

One of the most celebrated works on mystical theology in existence, as timely today as when St. Teresa of Avila wrote it centuries ago, this is a treasury of unforgettable maxims on self-knowledge and fulfillment.
TERESA OF ÁVILA (1515-82), also called St. Teresa of Jesus, was a Spanish nun and one

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of the great mystics and religious women of the Roman Catholic Church. She was the leader of the Carmelite Reform, which restored and emphasized the austerity and contemplative character of this religious order. Canonized in 1622, she was elevated to Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, the first woman to be so honored.

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Christian Classic! This is the measuring stick I read every few years. It's not to be read as a measure for achievement for bragging or boasting but a cultured humility garnered through failing and surrendering into the arms of grace.

This discourse on mysticism written for the aid of her fellow Discalced Carmelite nuns, written from the heart is surprisingly readable given the distance in time between Teresa and the modern reader. There is a genuineness that shines out from each page. This is closer to a memoir than it is to a

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treatise. It is hard not to be constantly aware of the strength of her vision that must have been so vivid to her contemporaries, in a way that allowed her to move beyond the structured expectations for a woman, for a nun in 16th Century Spain. Kieran Kavanaugh's translation is highly readable. And his introduction is informative, a great help in providing context for her writing and her life.

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I've never made it though the entire book but I love St. Theresa's ideas which have helped my faith grow considerably.

I could tell this was an informative, experiential, and intimate look at the spiritual inner life; however I think I am still stuck outside the proverbial castle gate.

For the first time in well over 70 years, this work is now available. This particular work is the translation by The sisters of Stanbrook Abbey. This effort is also a critical examine against that of Allison Peers, infamous version.

This is my Lenten reading pick for 2017, the first time I've chosen an audiobook for edifying reading. I thought I was going to like this one somewhat more, and maybe I would have as a person still in school, but I found that the description of the inward spiritual journey as a trip through a

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Renaissance castle with many mansions to be hard for me to identify with. I knew, intellectually, that she was composing her work for her fellow cloistered religious, who quite possibly would be receiving it aurally as well, and was prepared to make allowance for the difference in our life pursuits. It never really managed to draw me in fully though, which is a pity. It did not fill me with a conviction that the most interior of the mansions in the depths of contemplation with God was the place I myself wanted to go more than anything, but assumed that I as the reader might already be of that mind on my own. Right now I am going through a period where I am focused on the outside world and its concerns somewhat more than I really like, so part of it could be a matter of timing. I wouldn't mind re-reading the work in a dozen years maybe to see if it comes off differently to me then.
I would say that I did enjoy Teresa's writing style, which is so far from high-faluting and indeed tends to be even self-deprecating that I bookmarked a couple of charming passages of hers. There are some unusual images she includes which I really enjoyed for their extraordinary flights of fancy. It's not enough to make me raise my rating to four stars, unfortunately, but at least it made the book pleasant to experience.
I'm not enough of an expert in theology to be able to tell what innovative ideas Teresa introduced in her writing. To me it felt like it was so thoroughly adopted by Catholic teaching by now that nothing felt controversial.

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