The Raptures Of St. Teresa Sparknotes
The Thought is What Counts
(In Discussion: Jesus Revealing Himself to St. Teresa of Avila)
“I have strayed far from any intention, for I was trying to give the reasons why this kind of vision cannot be the work of the imagination. How could we picture Christ’s Humanity by merely studying the subject or form any impression of His great beauty by means of the imagination?” (Page 632 Paragraph 1). This selection brings a great question forward. How can we? St. Teresa in her book The Raptures of St. Teresa explains the best she can how Jesus is in her every day. Lawrence S. Cunningham implies, “Anyone who imagines that great mystics like Teresa spend all their time in a quiet cell rapt in prayer will be surprised by these letters. Teresa was …show more content…
a very busy woman. Her letters deal with family matters: the fecklessness of one of her brothers, the patrimony of another. They deal with the practical management of her burgeoning communities: debts to be paid, clerics to pacify, decisions about whom to admit as postulants.” There are many saint, but many people talk about St. Teresa. This may be because she worked very hard at getting Jesus to reveal himself through her every day. In The Raptures of St. Teresa reveals how Jesus revealed himself to St. Teresa.
First, Jesus reveals himself to St. Teresa through visions in The Raptures of St. Teresa. According to Barbara Mujica, “Teresa began to experience raptures, the church was highly suspicious of mystics, particularly if they were women. Most of Teresa's spiritual directors dismissed her experiences as inauthentic or even demonic. In reaction to the Protestant Reformation, the church took a strong stand against the notion of personal, unmediated religious experience. Mystical enlightenment as described by Teresa seemed dangerously similar to certain ideas that were considered heretical.” Many people will think a person is crazy if they say they are having visions of Jesus. St. Teresa was having visions of Jesus and many people brushed her off or told her she was crazy. Visions are not work from the imagination. If they were then the visions would not be real. However, visions are very real and happen to this day. St. Teresa indicates, “There is nothing we can do about them; we cannot see more or less of them at will; and we can neither call them up nor banish them by our own efforts. The Lord’s will is that we shall see quite clearly that they are produced, not by us but by His majesty.” (Page 633 Paragraph 3). The vision that a person gets is what they get there is no way to alter it. The vision is what Jesus wants you to see. They are produced by the Lord not by our efforts. St. Teresa tried to get Jesus to show through her every day, but if she got a vision is was what Jesus wanted her to get and when he wanted her to get it. Visions were not the only way that Jesus revealed himself to St. Teresa. Next, in The Raptures of St.
Teresa St. Teresa implies that Jesus grew within her. St. Teresa had a busy life. She worked very hard to get Jesus to shine through her each and every day. Jesus did grow within her because of her efforts. St. Teresa lived in a convent and prayed a lot. She wrote lots of things down. St Teresa of Avila says, “His Majesty began to give me clearer signs of His presence, as He had promised to do. There grew within me so strong a love of God that I did not know who was inspiring me with it, for it was entirely supernatural and I had made no efforts to obtain in.” (Page 635 Paragraph 8). As her love for him grew inside her so did Jesus. Jesus feeds on love. He promised her through a vision and as he delivered those promises her love grew and he began to grow with in her. Phyllis Mack suggests, “Teresa's frustration is that the apostolic work she is destined for as a Christian is denied her because she is female. We watch her crafting a theology that fuses the biblical figures of the repentant Mary Magdalene and the practical Martha, in order to defend an apostolic (or activist) role for women.” St. Teresa cannot go any higher in power than a nun because she is a female. She is denied certain roles and authority because of her gender. This caused much frustration for St. Teresa. However, this obstacle did not stop her from getting to know Jesus within …show more content…
her.
Finally, St.
Teresa believes that Jesus reveals himself through the host in The Raptures of St. Teresa. According to St. Teresa, “Almost invariably the Lord showed Himself to me in His resurrection body, and it was thus, too, that I saw Him in the Host. Only occasionally, to strengthen me when I was in tribulation, did He show me His wounds, and then He would appear sometimes as He was on the Cross and sometimes as in the garden” (Page 633 Paragraph 4). The host is a piece of bread that is eaten at communion. During communion the bread changes to Jesus’s body. The wine that we drink is his blood. St. Teresa says that Jesus reveals himself to her through the host. The host stays in the tabernacle during the mass and there are candles lit that represent Jesus being there. Alison Weber writes, “A life in which prayer could play a central role required a dramatically different monastic life than that afforded at the Incarnation. Hence Teresa's mission to establish a small religious house under the primitive or Discalced rule. Teresa envisioned convents into which nuns would be admitted on the basis of their vocation for prayer, without regard to lineage or demands for a dowry; strict enclosure would be observed.” After communion and receiving the host there is silence for prayers. Praying is one of the most important part of mass. Praying is when you talk personally with Jesus. You can “talk” about yourself or about someone else. Jesus doesn’t care he just wants a relationship
with you.
St. Teresa indicates how Jesus reveals himself to her in The Raptures of St. Teresa. The way Jesus reveals himself is quite different than how Lord Krishan reveals himself to Arjuna. Communion and visions are different, but the growing with you is similar. Communion is where you receive the host. St. Teresa received visions from Jesus and Arjuna did not. However, they both let their Lords grow with in them and filled them up. Joydeep Bagchee indicates, “Let us start with the basic objection that if Arjuna were completely desireless, he could not fight in battle. Consequently, Krsna's aim cannot be the nullification of all desire in Arjuna, but rather to plant certain desires rather than others in Arjuna's mind, namely those conducive to making him fight.”
Works Cited
Bagchee, Joydeep. "The Bhagavadgita: Philosophy versus Historicism." Philosophy East and West 61.4 (2011): 707+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Cunningham, Lawrence S. "Religion booknotes." Commonweal 137.5 (2010): 26+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Mack, Phyllis. "St. Teresa of Avila: Author of a Heroic Life." The Women's Review of Books June 1996: 13+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Mujica, Barbara. "Teresa of Avila: a woman of her time, a saint for ours." Commonweal 137.4 (2010): 15+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Weber, Alison. "Saint Teresa's Problematic Patrons." Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 29.2 (Spring 1999): 357-379. Rpt. in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Vol. 149. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
(In Discussion: Jesus Revealing Himself to St. Teresa of Avila)
“I have strayed far from any intention, for I was trying to give the reasons why this kind of vision cannot be the work of the imagination. How could we picture Christ’s Humanity by merely studying the subject or form any impression of His great beauty by means of the imagination?” (Page 632 Paragraph 1). This selection brings a great question forward. How can we? St. Teresa in her book The Raptures of St. Teresa explains the best she can how Jesus is in her every day. Lawrence S. Cunningham implies, “Anyone who imagines that great mystics like Teresa spend all their time in a quiet cell rapt in prayer will be surprised by these letters. Teresa was …show more content…
a very busy woman. Her letters deal with family matters: the fecklessness of one of her brothers, the patrimony of another. They deal with the practical management of her burgeoning communities: debts to be paid, clerics to pacify, decisions about whom to admit as postulants.” There are many saint, but many people talk about St. Teresa. This may be because she worked very hard at getting Jesus to reveal himself through her every day. In The Raptures of St. Teresa reveals how Jesus revealed himself to St. Teresa.
First, Jesus reveals himself to St. Teresa through visions in The Raptures of St. Teresa. According to Barbara Mujica, “Teresa began to experience raptures, the church was highly suspicious of mystics, particularly if they were women. Most of Teresa's spiritual directors dismissed her experiences as inauthentic or even demonic. In reaction to the Protestant Reformation, the church took a strong stand against the notion of personal, unmediated religious experience. Mystical enlightenment as described by Teresa seemed dangerously similar to certain ideas that were considered heretical.” Many people will think a person is crazy if they say they are having visions of Jesus. St. Teresa was having visions of Jesus and many people brushed her off or told her she was crazy. Visions are not work from the imagination. If they were then the visions would not be real. However, visions are very real and happen to this day. St. Teresa indicates, “There is nothing we can do about them; we cannot see more or less of them at will; and we can neither call them up nor banish them by our own efforts. The Lord’s will is that we shall see quite clearly that they are produced, not by us but by His majesty.” (Page 633 Paragraph 3). The vision that a person gets is what they get there is no way to alter it. The vision is what Jesus wants you to see. They are produced by the Lord not by our efforts. St. Teresa tried to get Jesus to show through her every day, but if she got a vision is was what Jesus wanted her to get and when he wanted her to get it. Visions were not the only way that Jesus revealed himself to St. Teresa. Next, in The Raptures of St.
Teresa St. Teresa implies that Jesus grew within her. St. Teresa had a busy life. She worked very hard to get Jesus to shine through her each and every day. Jesus did grow within her because of her efforts. St. Teresa lived in a convent and prayed a lot. She wrote lots of things down. St Teresa of Avila says, “His Majesty began to give me clearer signs of His presence, as He had promised to do. There grew within me so strong a love of God that I did not know who was inspiring me with it, for it was entirely supernatural and I had made no efforts to obtain in.” (Page 635 Paragraph 8). As her love for him grew inside her so did Jesus. Jesus feeds on love. He promised her through a vision and as he delivered those promises her love grew and he began to grow with in her. Phyllis Mack suggests, “Teresa's frustration is that the apostolic work she is destined for as a Christian is denied her because she is female. We watch her crafting a theology that fuses the biblical figures of the repentant Mary Magdalene and the practical Martha, in order to defend an apostolic (or activist) role for women.” St. Teresa cannot go any higher in power than a nun because she is a female. She is denied certain roles and authority because of her gender. This caused much frustration for St. Teresa. However, this obstacle did not stop her from getting to know Jesus within …show more content…
her.
Finally, St.
Teresa believes that Jesus reveals himself through the host in The Raptures of St. Teresa. According to St. Teresa, “Almost invariably the Lord showed Himself to me in His resurrection body, and it was thus, too, that I saw Him in the Host. Only occasionally, to strengthen me when I was in tribulation, did He show me His wounds, and then He would appear sometimes as He was on the Cross and sometimes as in the garden” (Page 633 Paragraph 4). The host is a piece of bread that is eaten at communion. During communion the bread changes to Jesus’s body. The wine that we drink is his blood. St. Teresa says that Jesus reveals himself to her through the host. The host stays in the tabernacle during the mass and there are candles lit that represent Jesus being there. Alison Weber writes, “A life in which prayer could play a central role required a dramatically different monastic life than that afforded at the Incarnation. Hence Teresa's mission to establish a small religious house under the primitive or Discalced rule. Teresa envisioned convents into which nuns would be admitted on the basis of their vocation for prayer, without regard to lineage or demands for a dowry; strict enclosure would be observed.” After communion and receiving the host there is silence for prayers. Praying is one of the most important part of mass. Praying is when you talk personally with Jesus. You can “talk” about yourself or about someone else. Jesus doesn’t care he just wants a relationship
with you.
St. Teresa indicates how Jesus reveals himself to her in The Raptures of St. Teresa. The way Jesus reveals himself is quite different than how Lord Krishan reveals himself to Arjuna. Communion and visions are different, but the growing with you is similar. Communion is where you receive the host. St. Teresa received visions from Jesus and Arjuna did not. However, they both let their Lords grow with in them and filled them up. Joydeep Bagchee indicates, “Let us start with the basic objection that if Arjuna were completely desireless, he could not fight in battle. Consequently, Krsna's aim cannot be the nullification of all desire in Arjuna, but rather to plant certain desires rather than others in Arjuna's mind, namely those conducive to making him fight.”
Works Cited
Bagchee, Joydeep. "The Bhagavadgita: Philosophy versus Historicism." Philosophy East and West 61.4 (2011): 707+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Cunningham, Lawrence S. "Religion booknotes." Commonweal 137.5 (2010): 26+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Mack, Phyllis. "St. Teresa of Avila: Author of a Heroic Life." The Women's Review of Books June 1996: 13+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Mujica, Barbara. "Teresa of Avila: a woman of her time, a saint for ours." Commonweal 137.4 (2010): 15+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Weber, Alison. "Saint Teresa's Problematic Patrons." Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 29.2 (Spring 1999): 357-379. Rpt. in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Vol. 149. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.