Reviews for V. 1 Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila: The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies, Soliloquies, Vol. 1

The average rating for V. 1 Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila: The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies, Soliloquies, Vol. 1 based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-25 00:00:00 Matthew Duncan Not my favorite book by St. Teresa, but definitely has portions worth reading. The first ten or so chapters about her life are nearly as good as St. Augustine's Confessions; the next dozen or so chapters concerning the types of prayer and comparing them to watering a garden are also worth pondering, though the last methods are beyond my experience, and since the chapters after that focus on these deeply contemplative experiences I admit much went over my head. Didn't finish reading beyond Chapter 27, but that's not because St. Teresa is wrong so much as that she went to places I can't understand. The good news: understanding such things isn't necessary, and one of the reasons I like St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross so much is that they emphasize that these mystical prayers are neither necessary nor earned. Anyway, certainly found good material to meditate upon here. The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle were more profitable to me, though, and I'll probably return to them shortly.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-09-11 00:00:00 Iyhgiuouiyh Hikj This book has Teresa's autobiography. It is very interesting but kind of wordy, lots of tangents, and reflections. It makes it sometimes hard to follow. Worth a read, but I read it along a biography which helped me track what was going on, without getting lost in her descriptions. The vividness of her visions and experiences of prayer, makes this book a delight to read. The fact that her early confessors thought she was possessed shows their struggle to come to terms with a woman whose prayer life was unlike anything they had ever seen. She saw Jesus (or felt his presence) heard voices, fought off devils with holy water, had a vision of hell, levitated, and was frequently lost in contemplation of God. Kind of makes you wonder what your impression of this woman would be if you met her