Customer Reviews

The Way of Perfection

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The Way of Perfection is one of St. Teresa of Avila's great books, in which she discusses the nature of the path to God (perfecting oneself) and offers advice and spiritual insights about this. As with all of her writings, this book is remarkable because St. Teresa was a mystic who had close and ongoing communion with God on a level few ever reach, that is rare. She was also charming, funny, and delightful - so reading her is a joy. Highly recommended.

OK, let's say you have made a beginning on the way of prayer, and you have been looking for good sources to read. You have heard a lot about St. Teresa of Avila. After all, she was one of the first women ever named a Doctor (in the Latin meaning of "teacher") of the Church. But lo and behold, you have found her Life puzzling and The Interior Castle just about impossible to understand.
Then this is the place to start. Yes, Teresa was writing 400 and more years ago, and her audience was cloistered contemplative nuns. But this was written almost like a letter. The personal tone gives it great charm and readability. Very little of it is hard to understand, and almost all of it can be applied to our lives here and now.
My only difficulty with Peers' translation is the huge number of footnotes. They would be invaluable to a scholar, but I can never keep myself from looking at them, and they are not really necessary or even helpful when your desire is to learn the spiritual wisdom of one of our greatest saints. I love her and love this book, and highly recommend it.

review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God

St. Teresa of Avila lived nearly four hundred years ago. Her work, The Way of Perfection, comes very soon after the completion of her autobiography. The way of which she speaks is a life of prayer. The book is addressed to the nuns of whom she is prioress. It is mainly intended for their use, but it is riddled with introspective knowledge on a prayer-filled relationship with God. This book is undoubtedly a work deeply rooted in Catholicism. However, Teresa's own intimate relationship with the Father is one to be marveled by all Christians. She begins her work by laying out the requirements to begin a prayerful life: aesthetic poverty, perfect love, and self-mortification. She follows with a discussion on the contemplative life and vocal and mental prayer. She meticulously dissects the Lord's Prayer and gives her nuns guidance in praying through the Paternoster. She intends to do the same with the Ave Maria but reconciles to let it alone for lack of space.

There are two versions of The Way of Perfection: the Escorial version and the Valladolid version. The Escorial version was written first and is directed uniquely toward the nuns of Avila. The edition above comes from the Valladolid text. It is a more formal manuscript intended for a larger audience. The translator and editor E. Allison Peers does a wonderful job of footnoting the differences between the two versions and inserting italicized sections from the Escorial text. The reader is given a feel for both versions in one book. It can be tiresome to constantly refer to footnotes, but a straight read-through is very enjoyable. It is nice to know the footnotes are there for any academic study. Teresa often meanders from her main point and talks at length about issues that her writing leads her to discuss. At first it may seem annoying that her focus is not always succinct, but her conversational tone greatly attests to the intimacy she has with her fellow nuns and with God. In all, The Way of Perfection is a pleasant and inspiring read.

Written over four centuries ago as a guide for the daughters and sisters belonging to the Carmelite Order, this instructional-type book discusses the attributes of a prayerful life and the nature of the path (growth in wholeness, holiness, and maturity) toward communion with God. Beginning with the premise that the foundation of the path toward God is based on three essential principles of a prayer-filled life; detachment from earthly things, true humility, and active love, Teresa of Avila instructs in the methods and discipline required in attaining these virtues through her insightful, astute, and sometimes witty commentaries. Her guidance and directives for attaining spiritual perfection, woven into the tapestry of her writing, are filled with her passion for teaching others how to attain a deep and lasting love of prayer. More than just a guidebook to prayer or rules for the daughters and sisters of the Carmelite Order, The Way of Perfection imparts to the reader advice for building a spiritual relationship with God. Teresa of Avila's counsel, spiritual insights, and directives gain relevancy and become tangible through her profound commentaries on the Paternoster. Most remarkable are her mystical experiences and how she conveys to the reader, through relating these experiences, what can be considered a view into the depth and breath of God's infinite love. Albeit that her communion with God (and mystical experiences) is a level that few ever reach, St Teresa of Avila does not focus on the "effects" - but rather the importance of using prayer and striving for the aforementioned virtues for obtaining a close and ongoing relationship with God that is just as pertinent today as it was to those of the monastic or cloistered life in 16th century Spain. This book is more than just a "classic"; it is a timeless masterpiece that offers a perpetual perspective on prayer and spirituality towards ongoing communion and ultimate union with God.

I enjoy this book and have gained spiritual strength from the lessons it teaches. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) has written a guide for the woman of the Carmelite Order which she re-established in 1562 with the assistance of John of the Cross (1542-1591). This is a guide to prayer, and beyond that, it contains her insights on building a spiritual relationship. The foundation of the relationship is based on three principles, Detachment, Humility and Active Love. The term "detachment" is really more accurately "attachment". The focus has changed from allowing circumstances to rule my decisions, to allowing the priority of a spiritual relationship to be part of that decision process. Humility is a challenging discipline for me. It has helped me to recognize my own arrogance. Teresa writes that it is arrogant to persist in the belief that the life we have been given is less than what we deserve. By recognizing this, I have been able to develop much more constructive ways of living. Finally, Active Love is the most challenging of all, and is the virtue which prepares for, as the Saint describes, "the way of perfection achieved in prayer". As powerful as this discussion is from the pen of a spiritual leader in her time, it gains credibility as Teresa manifests her spiritual theories through the example of a commentary on the Paternoster (Luke 11:2-5). I found that to be as good a starting point as any for implementing her profound ideas. If you are interested in strengthening your spiritual relationship, or in Mysticism as practiced in 16th century Spain, this book will be interesting to you.

The Way of Perfection is a thoughtful treatise on prayer and moral chastity and obedience among the sisters of Teresa's order, good advice as applicable now as it was then. We can become whole by devoting all to God, eschewing importance of material goods and learning to contemplate the goodness and mercy of Christ in prayer.

Considering the continuing moral decline we see in society today, books such as this are important now more than ever. Teresa used to berate herself for years over the few instances she wore makeup in public and was concerned for her looks; imagine if she were alive now to see some people out there wearing nothing but makeup!

The "Way of Perfection" is Teresa of Avila's classic book on how to pray
(the Our Father).No one in my opinion wrote more clearly on the subject than she.What's amazing about the "Way of Perfection" is that she wrote it straight through unedited (taken out of her autobiography)on the floor
of one of her convents by a sunlit window.It attests to her amazing skill
as a writer!

What makes the audiobook so good though is the reader,Julie Clapp.I've listened to a lot of audiobooks and she's as good as I've heard! You get
the feeling that you were hearing Teresa speak herself.Few readers can do that.

The price is high,(I'd like to see a 30% discount Amazon) but worth it
to fans of Saint Teresa of Avila/Jesus (the greatest woman mystic writer
IMO) and authentic audiobook readers!

St. Teresa combines moderation and common sense with the highest mystical insights. She reminds us that spirituality is serious business, but that God is already so close to us that we can have the courage to walk the narrow path that she sets forth. A brilliant spiritual guide written in engaging, practical language.

Mr. Carrigan takes it upon himself to omit essential material in the books he edits--this and 'Ascent of Mount Carmel' are two. He ignores that these were written by religious for religious, and is presumptuous and arrogant to assume that the entirety of these saints' writings is not important. I purchased this book here, then after reading the preface, immediately auctioned it off and found an *accurate* copy.

My suggestion: If you want to read the great Carmelite mystics, give Mr. Carrigan's versions wide berth.

St Teresa of Avila is an acknowledged master of the spiritual life. Not only did she reform the Carmelite Order, she was the first female Doctor of the Catholic Church when elevated to that status in the year 1970.

As a Carmelite, though not a Friar, I have read her spiritual classic,"The Way of Perfection", several times. However I have now found that I have gained so many insights into this work from reading Father Kieran Kavanaugh's Study Edition that my understanding of this classic has been brought into the 21st century.

I would thoroughly recommend it to any thoughtful reader, especially if encountering Teresa for perhaps the first time. One should read her "Life" before reading this tome however.