Damien
Peile, the Provincial Delegate for the Carmelite Family, issues a Monthly
News via email. These bulletins include
my own notices or brief reviews of books of interest to readers in Carmelite
spirituality and history. Here are the first four. I will post these notices on
the Library blog quarterly. Philip Harvey.
Rowan
Williams, at the age of 40, wrote ‘Teresa of Avila’ (ISBN: 0-225-66579-4), a
book regarded by many as the best in-depth introduction of contemporary times. The
book was the result of his own re-reading of Teresa. He writes: “The things
that came home to me included, above all, Teresa’s passionate focus on the
Incarnate Jesus, and her near-obsessive concern to eradicate considerations of
social and racial distinction from her communities. I began to see her as a
genuinely incarnational theologian.”
That memory
comes from Rowan Williams in his 60s, appearing in his latest book ‘Holy
Living: the Christian Tradition for Today’ (ISBN: 978-1-4729-4608-9), a book which
dedicates an entire section to ‘The Genius of Teresa of Avila’. This is one of
his more personal and accessible works, ranging over many subjects, so it is
both inspiring and instructional to find that Teresa’s example continues to be
so central in his own life. Not only that, it shows how we can return and learn
new things from those we ourselves have identified as life sources for our own
living.
-
Philip
Harvey (December 2017)
When
Professor Bernard McGinn visited Melbourne in 2015 he confided to the large
audience at his lecture that he likes the sacred number seven, which is why he
still has to write the seventh volume of his ‘The Presence of God’ before he
dies. Volume 6, Part 2 is almost Volume 7. It has just been published,
containing many good things including a revised version of that same lecture,
‘Teresa of Avila: the Contemplative in Action’. Those of you who were there will
remember the clarity, honesty, and depth that Bernard brought to the subject.
This is authoritative scholarship at its best.
Volume 6,
Part 2 is subtitled ‘Mysticism in the Golden Age of Spain, 1500-1650’ (ISBN:
978-0-8245-0090-0), a period that produced reformers, visionaries, teachers,
missionaries, and mystics. Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s work is identified as “a
mysticism of apostolic service”. Some two-thirds of the book is devoted to
Carmelite spirituality, so if you wish to read some of the latest, most
informed and insightful writing on Teresa, Saint John of the Cross and other
Carmelites of the period, this is the place to go.
-
Philip
Harvey (November 2017)
Mirabai
Starr’s website says that she “teaches about the interconnected wisdom of the
mystics of all spiritual paths, contemplative life, and the transformational
power of longing.” That’s one thing. She teaches; she also translates. Her
versions of St John of the Cross’s ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ (2002) and St
Teresa of Avila’s ‘Interior Castle’ (2003) brought to popular attention a
writer whose English is refreshing and direct. Thomas Moore has described her
style as fluid and inviting. If you wish to connect with these great works then
Mirabai Starr is a good starting place.
More
recently she has produced an excellent translation of the ‘Showings’ of Julian
of Norwich, a version used in the Carmelite Library’s last spiritual reading
group on that medieval English mystic. And returning to Teresa, Starr has
produced ‘Saint Teresa of Avila, passionate mystic’ (ISBN 978-1-62203-070-5), a
collection of prayers and other writings, recommended to anyone wanting to go
quickly into the liveliness of Teresa’s teaching. For example: “The important
thing is not to think much, but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens
us to love.”
-
Philip
Harvey (October 2017)
One of the
best collections of Carmelite reflections and prayers in English is ‘Meeting
God’. First produced by the Irish Province in 2007, the book went into a second
revised edition in 2014 under the aegis of the Carmelite General Curia in Rome.
This is its own recommendation, and rightly so. You’ll find it in the Carmelite
Library for free, or you can buy it online after googling the ISBN:
978-1-78218-142-2
‘Meeting
God’ serves as a succinct introduction to the charism of the Carmelites, their
history and practices. But more usefully, the book contains prayers,
quotations, and other writings that you may return to at any time. These words are
taken from greater and lesser known Carmelite spiritual writers , from sections
of the Carmelite Liturgy, statements of the Prior General, and other heritage
documents. The text of the Rule is set out clearly and attractively, with an
excellent parallel commentary that provides context and purpose. The book is a
handy way into the richness of Carmelite tradition.
-
Philip
Harvey (September 2017)