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The Making of a Mystic: Seasons in the Life of Teresa of Avila

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I have a "thing" about Teresa of Avila. She's been in my life (as a role model for both spiritual worship and daily living) for almost twenty-five years, and I occasionally give speeches about her. And, as part of the research, I've become familiar with much of the literature that has been written about her. Teresa was an amazing, and complex person who lived (1515-1582) in the middle of The Golden Age of Spain. Depending on who you talk to, or which book you read, Teresa was "an obedient daughter of the Church" who did everything that her Church superiors told her to do, or else "a firebrand who turned Spanish Catholicism completely upside down" as she established a series of seventeen contemplative convents where women and men could worship God in quiet surroundings, away from the overly-socialized churches and convents of the day. Some will tell you that Teresa (who suffered from a wide variety of illnesses for much of her life) was just a hysterical woman, who was unable to cope with common events (death of a parent) that beset all of us. While others will maintain that all of her illnesses, and all of her yearnings for contemplative living, actually served as prodding steps which moved her closer and closer to God, and ultimately assisted her in writing thousands of pages of beautiful literature which endure to this day. In all the confusion of Spain in the mid-1500s, and the Catholic Church in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition, and even Teresa in the midst of her illnesses and mystical yearnings for God, it is NOT easy (for a reader) to really get an accurate "sense" of Teresa in terms of who she was as a woman, and as a daughter of God. But all this background brings us to Francis and Toni Gross, who have written one of the most compelling and valuable books ("The Making of a Mystic: Seasons in the Life of Teresa of Avila") I have ever encountered on the life of this saint. This book really "gets" Teresa. It gets her as a human being (with all the weaknesses and failings that implies), as a saint (possessed of a holiness and closeness to God that the rest of us strive for, but almost never attain), and as someone dealing with all the problems of life.

Rather than approach her directly through her writings (as most other books on Teresa tend to do), "Making of a Mystic" is a "developmental biography" (as the authors call it) designed to explain Teresa's mental and spiritual journey from infancy to old age. The reader is taken on a lifelong adventure into the heart and mind of Teresa, and shown how Teresa slowly evolved as a person and as a contemplative. And, in case the reader has trouble understanding the psyche of Teresa, the book compares and contrasts her psychological development with those of Mohandas Gandhi and Dorothy Day, two other complex and fascinating personages who often struggled with their own spirituality (and had conflicts with various aspects of religious organizations) on the way to discovering the central place of God in their lives. One thing I should point out is that this book is NOT just a history of Teresa of Avila, nor a compendium of her writings and sayings. And to be fair, if you are looking for a summary of the life of this saint and her major writings, you might want to take a look at "Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary Life" (by Shirley du Boulay), "Teresa of Avila: Mystical Writings" (by Tessa Bielecki), and "From Ash to Fire: A Contemporary Journey through the Interior Castle of Teresa of Avila" (by Carolyn Humphreys) which brings Teresa's most famous work alive for modern audiences. Those three books do an excellent job of providing the first-time reader with a suitable introduction to Teresa. But if, on the other hand, you are already somewhat familiar with Teresa, and want to really understand the workings of her mind and psyche, then I can't recommend anything as highly as "The Making of a Mystic: Seasons in the Life of Teresa of Avila". It's a wonderful read, and well worth your time. Teresa found (struggling for decades with her spirituality and her health) that the road to God is not at all easy. And for us today ... beset on all sides by earthly distractions that would pull us off of our own spiritual paths ... she's a marvelous role model for women and men alike who are seeking a quieter and more contemplative life. Reading this book made me feel that I really "knew" Teresa for the first time, on a deep and personal level. And I think it can have the same result for you.