Gianlorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Teresa
1647-52
Marble
height c. 11' 6" (3.5m)
Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
"God grant that I may be able to understand this, and even more that I may be able to describe it, for I am not sure that I know when love is spiritual and when there is sensuality mingled with it, or how to begin speaking about it."
"I repeat once more that this love is a similitude and copy of that which was borne for us by the good Lover, Jesus"
"'My life!' 'My love!' 'My darling!' and such like things, one or another of which people are always saying. Let such endearing words be kept for your Spouse, for you will be so often and so much alone With Him that you will want to make use of them all, and this His Majesty permits you"
St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), The Way of Perfection, Ch. 6-7. See also Autobiography of St. Teresa
Book of Showings or Revelations of Divine Love
anchoress at Church of St. Julian, Norwich (northeast coast of England)
learned in theology, gifted mind
illness, near-death experience, and 16 mystical visions at age 30 (1373)
contemplative life
centrality of idea of love; also emphasis on pity, faith, hope, universal salvation
vision of Christ as humble, simple, and kind; homeliness and courtesy of Christ
intimacy of relationship to Christ
Links:
Book of Margery Kempe, one of the first English autobiographies
daughter of former mayor of Lynn, Norfolk, England
married at age 20 to prosperous townsman; mother of 14 children
mental breakdown after first child
vow of celibacy at age 40
pilgrimage to the Holy Land
visions, noisy weeping bouts in public places
confrontation with Archbishop of York; exchange of insults; defiance of Margery
illiterate, dictated her story
visit to Julian of Norwich
Links:
Other English mystical and religious authors and works:
Ancrene Riwle ("Rule of Anchoresses" also known as Ancrene Wisse)(c. 1230), in English prose, book of advice and instruction for nuns and women religious recluses
Walter Hilton (d. 1396), The Scale of Perfection, addressed to a woman recluse
Richard Rolle (c. 1300-1349), Meditations on the Passion, The Forme of Perfect Living, several of his works addressed to anchoress Margaret Kirkeby
The Cloud of Unknowing (second half of the 14th century), mystical prose work
Pearl (1380-1400), alliterative poem in 12-line octosyllabic stanzas; about author's only child, Pearl, who died before two years of age; vision of heaven; in Cotton Nero manuscript; possibly by the same author as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Patience (second half of the 14th century), alliterative poem, 531 lines; story of Jonah and the whale; in Cotton Nero manuscript; possibly by the same author as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Cleanness (second half of the 14th century), alliterative poem, 1821 lines; biblical stories, the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, fall of Babylon; in Cotton Nero manuscript; possibly by the same author as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight