The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila. Volume 2: The Way of Perfection, Meditations on the Song of Songs, The Interior Castle by Teresa of Ávila

The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila. Volume 2: The Way of Perfection, Meditations on the Song of Songs, The Interior Castle Reviews

• 
  Les Walters

  As a Carmelite Secular (i.e. a lay member of the Carmelite Order, founded by St Teresa in 16th century), I keep coming back to The Way of Perfection again and again, and always learn something new and important. It's foundational to our prayer life as we're committed to the practise of contemplative prayer and to growth in holiness and Teresa knew what she was talking about. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez have done a fine job of translating from the Spanish and making Teresa intelligble and coherent. Still, it does take time and effort to grasp and absorb what she teaches. The effort is worthwhile. But if you're serious about prayer, you'll need to revisit Teresa often...it's a sort of broadening upward spiral.
  
  My Carmelite Community in Sydney, Australia, read and discussed Way of Perfection during 2011 and we're currently studying The Book of Her Foundations. This is all part of the preparation for the 500th anniversary of our Founder's birth in 2015. The entire Carmelite Order is systematically studying all of St Teresa's writings over the 5 years leading up to 2015. Next year we again study The Interior Castle, included in this volume (2)
• 
  Jeff Miller

  I have reread this a couple of chapters at a time over the last year. So much wisdom in this book it is a mine for contemplation.
• 
  Tim Fountain

  A collection of spiritual classics, at once challenging and comforting.
  
  She is so much fun to read, as she digresses, pokes fun at herself, and seeks winsome examples to explain deep insights.
  
  These are not easy works to read. They need to be set aside so that the ideas can be absorbed and engaged in real life.
  
  The most uplifting content is her assurance that God is working on behalf of the soul that seeks Him. This is a hallmark of the Carmelite spirituality of which Teresa is both foundational and iconic. She has explanations of the struggles of faith that are compelling because she has insight into how God uses our difficulties to bring us closer to perfect unity with Him.
• 
  booklady

  Hope to return to this very soon.
  
  Within this volume is a book entitled, Meditations on the Song of Songs--which is what I'm beginning next. Already read the other two works in this volume: The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle.
• 
  Mauricio

  This book contains 3 works by St. Teresa: The Way of Perfection, A Meditation on the Song of Songs, and The Interior Castle. The chapters are short. It's easy to pick up and put down. I personally did not read it in order.
  
  It's suitable for people who want to read for extended periods of time to reflect on something like the Our Father or as something to pick up and read on a daily basis. The chapters are short such that you could pick and choose what to read - like a blog. There is a short summary (a short paragraph) for each chapter.
  
  The audience in these three works were the sisters of her order. Overall, the works are useful for contemplatives.
• 
  Jacqueline Hannaford

  Read The Interior Castle. There is much that is thought provoking in this work. It actually kind of echoes Rainbow Painting in that it discusses progressively more profound states of meditation (like the External, Internal and Secret of Rainbow Paintings). The imagery of the castle and the rooms within help the reader begin to understand the progression of the spiritual path, complete with all of the doubt and confusion therein.
  
  However, I have real difficulty with her references to humans as "wretches" and "bad" as though that is our natural state, even though she admits we are made in the image of the divine. I also find the imagery of G-d as spouse to be kind of cree
• 
  Adam Zajac

  It's essential when studying the saints to read their own writings, even if it means walking away with only one insight. I found much of this volume to be readable, although it will take many more readings to have any mastery of her theology.
• 
  Aaron Crofut

  ***Review for THE WAY OF PERFECTION***
  
  Written for a dozen fellow nuns, St. Teresa's The Way of Perfection is a beautiful meander through the nature of prayer, with a special focus on contemplation and the Lord's Prayer. As with St. John of the Cross, the work is not systematic and it is not a book of apologetics; one coming to this work would need a basic understanding of doctrine. With that in mind, I would highly recommend this book to any Christian seeking a good daily devotional (perhaps a chapter per day) that isn't the saccharine "all is well" sickness that seems to pervade the genre.
  
  A couple concepts worth meditating upon:
  
  *To love a soul so deeply that you desire your desire to be worthy of desire...this is a love that pains us deeply
  *we can only afford to have a few such loves in our lives. If our friends are to have such love, we're going to only be able to handle a few friends. Brings the Facebook friend concept into a proper focus.
  *The Long Martyrdom- to live in humility
  *What Contemplation is, how it differs from other forms of prayer, that it is a reward of God we cannot earn but can drive away
  *Better to win a devoted soul than try to superficially convert masses of the superficial (tie that to the love mentioned above)
  *All prayer needs to be mindful. These are not magic incantations, but worship and devotion to beings.
  *If we are distracted in prayer, go do some good work instead.
  *God and His Court are with us always; do not leave such a wonderful place for the world.
  *The sweetness of prayer comes and goes as God desires. This sweetness is not the point of praying. Be thankful when you have it, but do not desperately try to hang on to it.
  *Love determines whether we can carry a large or a small cross. Fiat voluntas tua...
  
  And the last ten chapters are an incredible commentary on the Our Father. The 41st Chapter in particular deserves mention. The best way of creating interest in Christianity is to live a life others would want to live. I have become a fan of Alasidair MacIntyre over the last year, but he was wrong on this account. We are not waiting for a very different St. Benedict; we await a new St. Francis.
• 
  Cecilia D.

  I loved this edition of Teresa of Avila's greatest works. It was cohesive, and covered all the basics on understanding the Spirituality of Saint Teresa. Her Meditation on the Song of Songs is just beautiful, but nothing quite comes to the extensive mysticism covered in the Interior Castle or the Way of Perfection.
• 
  Jennifer Talarico

  I found that reading Carolyn Myss' "Entering the Castle" helped me to understand on a deeper level the section on The Interior Castle." I would recommend reading both of them.
• 
  Stuart

  We are quickly approaching the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila, which is October 15th. Two weeks ago, I reviewed Volume One of her Collected Works and to continue my review theme, I am now going to tell you about Volume Two. This book contains two of St. Teresa's more well-known works - The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle. In addition to these two, we are also treated to Meditations on the Song of Songs. Like the first volume, the translators, Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh and Fr. Otilio Rodriguez, wrote introductions to these key works. These introductions provide us with information such as historical context, outline, and central theme.
  
  The Way of Perfection was written while St. Teresa was a nun of the Order of our Lady of Mount Carmel. It was intended as a rule for the discalced nuns. She starts by telling the nuns why she founded this monastery. Some of the subjects she talks about are detachment from worldly things, mortification, perfect love of God, and prayer. Meditations on the Song of Songs is remarkable for several reasons. but the two primary reasons are her lack of Biblical training and the fact that she was a woman commenting on the Song of Songs. It is not a verse-by-verse commentary, but her observations are astute and show a knowledge that can best be described as mystical. The Interior Castle is my favorite work of St. Teresa's. It is hard to do justice talking about it, but in this work, she described her ideal journey of faith. Each level gets the journeyer one step closer to God. The first three mansions deal with ordinary prayer, and the final four mansions deal with contemplative prayer. She does not take any credit for progress on the journey. Instead, she gives all credit to the Sacraments and devotion to God's will.
  
  Each time you read through the words of St. Teresa of Avila, you are treated to the words of a brilliant Doctor of the Church. I would normally say that if you are only going to own one of the volumes of her works, it would be this one. However, I think you really need Volume One as well to appreciate the context of Volume Two and respect the progression of her writings. The only problem I have with this book is the cover doesn't match Volume One and Volume Three, but that is a petty complaint at best.