SALT LAKE CITY - "Teresa (of Ávila) had countless heirs who, though they did not know her in life, nevertheless felt a strong kinship with her through reading her books." Thus wrote Alison Weber of the University of Virginia in her paper for the 2004 symposium, "The Heirs of St. Teresa," at Georgetown University. The essay appears with others in "The Heirs of St. Teresa of Ávila: Defenders and Dissseminators of the Founding Mother's Legacy."
The book's essayists write of many of the readers and writers who were contemporaries of Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582). In doing so, they reveal how the saint remains so popular today through the Carmelites who follow her reforms of their order, and individuals who even today find her writings inspiring.
The book reveals that Teresa had nuns, priests and lay followers who loved her and cherished her writings, but she also had detractors whose goals were to lock her away from the world and discourage her writings from being passed along. In short, all was not peaceful among the heirs of St. Teresa.
Weber writes of María de San José (Salazar), St. Teresa's most "difficult" daughter who was so loved by St. Teresa that it had a profound affect on both of their lives.
Barbara Mujica writes of Fray Jerónimo Gracián de la Madre de Dios, who, at age 30 , met Teresa, who was then 60. So taken was Teresa by Gracián's spirituality that she took a vow of obedience to him.
"With the exception of John of the Cross," Mujica writes, "Teresa had not found effective friars for her projects, and Fray Jerónimo seemed an ideal collaborator."
Teresa's ambitious projects would forever reform the Carmelite order and have profound effects on other religious orders of the day.
"Teresa intended for her nuns' prayers mortifications to be directed toward the work of conversion of Native Americans," Weber writes, "as well as Protestants."
Teresa's influence was so strong her followers shared "a resolute determination to carry out Teresa's will." As a result, a good number of her heirs followed her on the road to sainthood.
St. Teresa was profoundly devoted to St. Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, and she shared this devotion with the man who would become St. Francis de Sales.
The book effectively outlines the saints' shared devotion to St. Joseph, so the reader can see how the spouse of Mary became a powerful intercessor for the Discalced Carmelite order.
In addition, "among the Carmelite hierarchy, many resented (Teresa's) reformist efforts viewing as arrogance her rejection of the status quo," proving that St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross led difficult lives, which they only survived through patience and prayer, the book states.
Carmelite writer Kieran Kavanaugh writes that Frenchman Jean de Bretigny (1556-1634) was instrumental in bringing the Discalced Carmelite nuns from Spain to France. His familiarity with the Teresian Carmel led to a close relationship with Jerónimo Gracián, then its provincial. St. John of the Cross was a member of that chapter as was Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew. De Bretigny was so devoted to Teresa and her writings that he translated them into French, publishing them in three volumes in 1601.
All of the writings and the holy lives of those who followed St. Teresa of Avila have carried on her popularity even to this day, and a chapter of the Carmelites thrives in Salt Lake City.
"The Heirs of St. Teresa of Ávila: Defenders and Dissseminators of the Founding Mother's Legacy," edited by Christopher C. Wilson, ICS Publications, Institute of Carmelite Studies, Washington, DC, 140 pages, softcover, $12.95.
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