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Teresa von Ávila
(1515-1582) spanische katholische Heilige

 

Bild

Teresa von Ávila, spanische Mystikerin
Peter Paul Rubens, niederländ. Maler


 

Biografische Daten

St. Teresa of Avila

Zitate von Teresa von Ávila

Persönliche Bekenntnisse

  • Ich sah einen Engel neben mir, an meiner linken Seite, und zwar in leiblicher Gestalt. […] Er war nicht groß, eher klein, sehr schön, mit einem so leuchtenden Antlitz, dass er allem Anschein nach zu den ganz erhabenen Engeln gehörte,
    die so aussehen, als stünden sie ganz in Flammen. Es müssen wohl die sein, die man Cherubim nennt. […] Ich sah
    in seinen Händen einen langen goldenen Pfeil, und an der Spitze dieses Eisens schien ein wenig Feuer zu züngeln.
    Mir war, als stieße er es mir einige Male ins Herz, und als würde es mir bis in die Eingeweide vordringen. Als er es
    herauszog, war mir, als würde er sie mit herausreißen und mich ganz und gar brennend vor starker Gottesliebe zu-
    rücklassen. Der Schmerz war so stark, dass er mich diese Klagen ausstoßen ließ, aber zugleich ist die Zärtlichkeit,
    die dieser ungemein große Schmerz bei mir auslöst, so überwältigend, dass noch nicht einmal der Wunsch hoch-
    kommt, er möge vergehen, noch dass sich die Seele mit weniger als Gott begnügt. Es ist dies kein leiblicher, son-
    dern ein geistiger Schmerz, auch wenn der Leib durchaus Anteil daran hat, und sogar ziemlich viel. Es ist eine so
    zärtliche Liebkosung, die sich hier zwischen der Seele und Gott ereignet, dass ich ihn in seiner Güte bitte, es den
    verkosten zu lassen, der denkt, ich würde lügen.
    Teresa von Ávila (1515-1582) spanische römisch-katholische Heilige, Karmelitin, Kirchenlehrerin, Das Buch meines Lebens – Gesammelte Werke, Band 1, 29, 13, Herder Verlag, 2. Auflage 9. Januar 2002
  • Die Seele und der Geist sind ein und dasselbe, genau wie die Sonne und ihre Strahlen. Kann da nicht, während sie an ihrem Platz verweilt, mit der Kraft der Wärme, die sie von der wahren Sonne der Gerechtigkeit empfängt, irgendein höherer Teil über sich selbst hinausdringen?
    Teresa von Ávila (1515-1582) spanische römisch-katholische Heilige, Karmelitin, Kirchenlehrerin, Fritz Vogelsang, Herausgeber, Übersetzer, Die innere Burg PDF, Erstausgabe 1588, Diogenes Verlag, Zürich, 1979, Neuausgabe Juli 2006

 

Bild
Kirchenfenster des Konvents der spanischen
katholischen Heiligen Teresa von Ávila (1515-1582)
  • Man glaube nicht, dass in der Unio mystica die Seelen-
    kräfte und Sinne und Leidenschaften immer in Frieden bleiben. Die Seele selbst dagegen, ihr Zentrum, ja.
    Teresa von Ávila (1515-1582) spanische römisch-katholische Heilige, Karmelitin, Kirchenlehrerin, Fritz Vogelsang, Heraus-
    geber, Übersetzer, Die innere Burg, PDF, Erstausgabe 1588, Diogenes Verlag, Zürich, 1979, Neuausgabe Juli 2006

 

  • Ein Beispiel von innerer spiritueller Heilung im kontem-
    plativen Gebet gibt uns Teresa von Avila in Gedanken
    zum Hohelied
    , in dem man im Innern der Seele eine so
    liebliche Sanftheit verspürt, dass man daran die Einwoh-
    nung des Herrn erkennt. [...] Ich nenne es Gebet der
    Ruhe, weil es den ganzen äußeren und inneren Men-
    schen in Ruhe und stillen Frieden versenkt. Und er fühlt
    sich davon innerlich und äußerlich so ge-stärkt, als habe
    man ihm ein duftendes Öl ins innerste Mark gegossen.
    Es ist, als seien wir plötzlich an einen Ort versetzt, der allenthalben einen solchen Wohlgeruch ausströmt, dass dieser uns ganz durchdringt, ohne dass wir zu sagen ver-
    mögen, woher er kommt. So dringt bei diesem Gebet die Liebe Gottes lieblich in uns ein. Die Seele – möchte dann weder sprechen, noch etwas sehen, noch sich bewegen, damit die Liebe Gottes bei ihr bleibe, denn ganz deutlich spürt sie seine Gegenwart. Teresa von Ávila (1515-1582) spanische römisch-katholische Heilige, Karmelitin, Kirchenlehrerin, Ulrich Dobhan, Übersetzer, Gedanken zum Hohenlied, Gedichte und kleinere Schriften [Band 3], Verlag Herder, Freiburg, 2. Taschenbuchauflage 15. Juli 2004, 2015

 

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Demut

 

  • Glaubt mir: Wer beim Schachspiel nicht einmal die Figuren in Ordnung zu stellen weiß, der wird es schlecht zu spielen
    verstehen; und wer nicht Schach bieten kann, der wird auch nicht schachmatt setzen können!
    Teresa von Ávila (1515-1582) spanische römisch-katholische Heilige, Karmelitin, Kirchenlehrerin, Schutzpatronin der Schachspieler, Weg der Vollkommenheit. Endfassung (Kodex von Valladolid), Kapitel XVI, Verlag Herder, 888. Auflage 3. Februar 2020

 

Referenz: de.Wikiquote-Eintrag Teresa von Ávila

Quotes by Teresa of Ávila

Personal avowals

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Sacred Marriage:

The 'unio mystica' state has long had sexual connotations. Being one with God was likened to sexual union with one's beloved. This was not the result of the mystic believing the union was sexual or seeing sexuality where it did not exist, but instead, it was the way the mystic herself described the experience.
The sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini executed Teresa's description of her mystical union with God. 1647-1652

Bild
Ecstasy of St Theresa, 1652,
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) Italian sculptor
Santa Maria Della Vittoria, Italy
Cornaro chapel, Rome
  • You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.
    Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: Saintly Quotes

 

  • "Beside me on the left appeared an angel in bodily form. [...] He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest ranks of angels, who seem to be all on fire. [...] In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it pe-
    netrated my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God.
    The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweet-
    ness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one can not possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it – even a considerable share."
    Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: Edgar Allison Peers (1891-1952) English Hispanist, educa-
    tionist, University of Liverpool, translator, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel, [1588], CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 1st edition 31. January 2014

 

  • Let us remember that within us there is a palace of immense magnificence.
    When I think of the Most Holy Trinity, or hear it spoken of, I seem to under-
    stand how there can by such a mystery, and it is a great joy to me.
    Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, Life of Prayer, S. 101, Cook Communications Ministries, Colorado Springs, Colorado, James M. Houston, Canada, 2nd edition 1983, United States 2006

 

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Courage

 

  • I regard the center of our soul as a cellar, into which God admits us as and when it pleases Him, so as to intoxicate
    us with the delicious wine of His grace. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, Interior Castle, 1577, Dover Publication, 29. February 2008; cited in: Marty Roth, Drunk the Night Before. An Anatomy
    of Intoxication
    , S. 78, University of Minnesota Press, 2005

 

  • I am quite sure I am more afraid of people who are themselves terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, David Lewis, US American trans-
    lator, The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself, Digireads.com, 1. January 2009

 

Recommendations

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Faith

 

  • Avoid tiring yourselves or wasting your thoughts in subtle reason about what you cannot properly understand. [...]
    When the Beloved desires to give understanding, it will happen without effort. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Volume 2, S. 216,
    ICS Publications, Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, paperback edition 1. January 1980, 2012

 

  • Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: Goodreads Quotes
  • Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: Article Christ has no body on earth but yours, cited in: article, presented by the US American liberal Catholic newspaper National Catholic Reporter, 21. January 2020

 

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Patience

  • Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: Suzanne Clores, editor, The Wisdom of the Saints, S. 30, Kensington Publishing, New York City, New York, 2002

 

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Pain

  • Pain is never permanent. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: John Cook, editor, Steve Deger, editor, Leslie Ann Gibson, editor, The Book of Positive Quotations, S. 333, 2007

 

  • God would have you keep back nothing from Him, little or great. He will have it all; in proportion to what you know you have given will your reward be great or small. There is no more certain sign whether or not we have reached the prayer of union. Do not imagine that this state of prayer is, like the one preceding it, a sort of drowsiness (I call it 'drowsiness' because the soul seems to slumber, being neither quite asleep nor wholly awake). In the prayer of union the soul is asleep, fast asleep, as regards the world and itself: in fact, during the short time this state lasts it is deprived of all feeling whatever, being unable to think on any subject, even if it wished. No effort is needed here to suspend the thoughts: if the soul can love it knows not how, nor whom it loves, nor what it desires. In fact, it has died entirely to this world, to live more truly than ever in God. This is a delicious death, for the soul is deprived of the faculties it exercised while in the body: delicious because, (although not really the case), it seems to have left its mortal covering to abide more entirely in God. So completely does this take place, that I know not whether the body retains sufficient life to continue breathing; on consideration, I believe it does not; at any rate, if it still breathes, it does so unconsciously. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, Interior Castle, 1577, S. 64,
    Dover Publication, 29. February 2008

 

 

Reference: en.Wikiquote entry Teresa of Ávila

Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing dismay you.
All things pass; God never changes.
Patience attains. All it strives for.
He who has God finds he lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.

 

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, E. Allison Peers, editor, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila.
Volume 3
, 1581, "Poem IX", S. 288, 1963, ICS Publications,
Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, 1. May 1985

Christ Has No Body

 

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

 

Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Spanish Carmelite nun, Roman Catholic saint, mystic, theologian, cited in: article, presented by the US American liberal Catholic
newspaper National Catholic Reporter, 21. January 2020

Zitate von anderen Quellen über Teresa von Avila

  • Die Seele und Gott gehen eine noch tiefere Vermählung ein, die auf ihrem Höhepunkt eine göttliche Einheit von Seele und GEIST erkennen lässt, eine Vereinigung, die jeder ihrer Manifestationen als Materie, Leben und Geist vorausgeht und jede nur denkbare Natur überstrahlt. [...]
    Der GEIST ist in der Erde und doch jenseits der Erde, er geht ihr voraus, ohne ihr jedoch als ein anderes gegenüberzu-
    stehen – dieser GEIST, der Ursprung und Grundlage und Ziel von allem ist, zeigt sich auf der psychischen [vorhergeh-
    enden] Ebene als Ahnung und tritt in den subtilen Stadien der Bewusstseinsevolution ganz in den Vordergrund, wobei
    er alle früheren Stufen einschließt und sie vollkommen überstrahlt. Mögen die Erde und der Kosmos und alle Welten
    untergehen, der GEIST leuchtet dennoch in der Leere, nicht entstehend, nicht vergehend, nicht ein Mal auch nur
    schwankend in den Welten der erschaffenen Zeit. Diese Erfahrung, so schreibt Teresa de Avila, "übersteigt alle Lust
    der Erde, alle ihre Wonnen und Freuden. Und man braucht nicht danach zu schauen, wo diese Freuden und wo die irdischen ihren Ursprung haben; die Art, wie man sie fühlt, ist völlig verschieden."

    Ken Wilber (*1949) US-amerikanischer Philosoph, Bewusstseinsforscher, transpersonaler Bewusstseinsforscher, Entwickler der Integralen Theorie, Autor, Eros, Kosmos, Logos. Eine Jahrtausend-Vision, S. 360-361, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 5. Auflage
    12. April 2011

Quotes by various other sources on Teresa of Avila

Personal avowals

  • One sip from the cup of that sweetness, the world starts to spin. Now I’m a drunk for life. Unsoberable. Tell them it's
    useless to try. Mirabai [Meera] (~1498-1547) aristocratic Indian Krishna devotee, influential in the Sant tradition of the Vaishnava
    bhakti movement, Hindu mystical poet-saint, cited in: Robert Bly, Jane Hirshfield, John Stratton Hawley, Mirabai. Ecstatic Poems,
    Beacon Press, 31. October 2004

 

  • [O]ne day, Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) was nothing more than a Carmelite nun from Avila, Spain who lived 500 years ago and suddenly, while teaching about her in one of my CMED workshops, her work became a vessel of illumination for me. Since that moment, nothing in my life has ever been the same. Everything in my life – in my world […] shifted unex-
    pectedly in an instant and that experience had Teresa of Avila written all over it. And from that experience came my book, Entering the Castle. An Inner Path to God and Your Soul [2007]. Caroline Myss Myss.com (*1952) US American spiritual teacher, mystic, medical intuitive, bestselling author, A Touch of Teresa of Avila's Wisdom, deleted Facebook note, 16. April 2011
  • The route into the soul for Teresa [of Avila] was the route directly into these paradoxes [seeking peace while creating conflict, wanting to be loving while acting out of anger and jealousy, striving to be honorable while deliberately deceiving others, seeing the predi-
    caments in the world while hesitating to help]
    , a route of self-examination. For her, the soul was
    • the ultimate and final engine of power for the individual,
    • the source and beginning point of conscious choice,
    • the alpha center of energy to the omega consequence of matter for which each of us is held accountable.
Caroline Myss Myss.com (*1952) US American spiritual teacher, mystic, medical intuitive, bestselling author, Wisdom from the Third Mansion, deleted Facebook note, 16. April 2011

 

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Saintly social and religious reformer

  • Specifically, it is possible to trace how their mystical experiences lead to recognition of the interconnectedness of all life and then to the development of specific social concerns for others. Teresa explicitly addresses how social reform is the direct response of the highest stages of infused contemplation in a commentary on the Mary-Martha story. "Martha and Mary," she writes in her Meditation on the 'Song of Songs' [7.3.],
    "never fail to work almost together when the soul is in this state [mystical marriage]. For in the active – and seemingly exterior – work the soul is working interiorly. And when the active works rise from this interior root,
    they become lovely and very fragrant flowers."
From the offspring of the active and contemplative lives, "heroic deeds will be born" and did so in Teresa's religious and social reforms. Janet K Ruffing, editor, Mysticism and Social Transformation, 31. March 2001, citing: Carole Slade,
Teresa of Avila as a Social Reformer, S. 94-95, Syracuse University Press, 6. March 2001

 

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Social and religious reformer

  • The radicalness of this insight bore "heroic deeds" in Teresa. Constance FitzGerald contends that Teresa’s contemplative life led her to be a champion of social and religious reforms, in which she:
Envisioned, in fact, a new social order where all were to be equal. In her small communities of contemplative women, Teresa set in motion a reversal of the social and religious order by a spiritual one that would eradicate the highest principles of the established order and undermine the current images of social status. Her fearless struggle
to destroy concern for honor and wealth
, and therefore uphold the value of the person over money and an-
cestry
, her unswerving struggle for the recognition of women’s rights to deep interior prayer and therefore to significant service in the Church at the time of great ecclesial danger and turmoil.
Francis A. Eigo, editor, A Discipleship of Equals. Toward a Christian Feminist Spirituality, citing: Constance FitzGerald, Voices
from Tradition – Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross
, S. 91, Villanova University Press, 1988

 

  • Teresa was born into a well-to-do family, long established in Spain. Some 20 years before she was born, in 1485, under Ferdinand and Isabella, the Tribunal of the Inquisition in Spain offered to pardon "conversos" – Jews who had converted to Christianity – if they had secretly been continuing Jewish practices. Teresa's paternal grandfather and Teresa's father were among those who confessed and were paraded through the streets in Toledo as repentence.
    Teresa was one of ten children in her family. As a child, Teresa was pious and outgoing – sometimes a mixture that her parents couldn't handle. When she was seven years old, she and her brother left home planning to travel to Muslim territory to be beheaded. They were stopped by an uncle.
    Carole Slade, St. Teresa of Avila. Author of a Heroic Life, University of California Press, 15. July 1995

 

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Saintly gift to God:

Teresa of Avila was a female contemplative social reformer.

  • St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) (October 15) lived in an age of exploration as well as political, social and religious upheaval. It was the 16th century, a time of turmoil and reform. She was born before the Protestant Reformation and died almost 20 years after the closing of the Council of Trent.
    The gift of God to Teresa in and through which she became holy and left her mark on the Church and the world is threefold: She was a woman; she was a contemplative; she was an active reformer.
    As a woman, Teresa stood on her own two feet, even in the man's world of her time. She was "her own woman," entering the Carmelites despite strong opposition from her father. She is a person wrapped not so much in silence
    as in mystery. Beautiful, talented, outgoing, adaptable, affectionate, courageous, enthusiastic, she was totally human. Like Jesus, she was a mystery of paradoxes:
    • wise, yet practical;
    • intelligent, yet much in tune with her experience;
    • a mystic, yet an energetic reformer.
    • A holy woman, a womanly woman.
Entry Saint Teresa of Avila, presented by the Franciscan Media, undated

Englische Texte – English section on Teresa of Ávila

You are living proof.

Caroline Myss underwent a revelatory moment with God. The Spanish Catholic mystic saint Teresa of Ávila told her

"Follow me daughter."

Myss dared to destroy eight months of work thereby geopardizing her book contract with publisher Hay House.
She asked her publisher about "switching the project to a book on a mystic". She risked her reputation of saneness –
all because she "heard God" speaking to her.
Hay House replied:

"Teresa of Avila has a deadline of 5 months."

And so things evolved.

 

Prone to seizures, a mystic's disorder, Caroline Myss requested:

"I want proof. [...] An apparition that would be too much for me, even as a Catholic."

Inner answer:

"There is no proof. [...] You are living proof. [...] I told you I'll test you.'"

Caroline Myss:

"Dear God, you are a ferocious light."
Source: ► Video presentation by Caroline Myss Myss.com (*1952) US American spiritual teacher, mystic,
medical intuitive, bestselling author, Healing and the Mystery of Grace – 2008, sponsored by Kripalu Center,
Stockbrige, Maine, archived by Myss Digital Media, 1:17:21 duration, 2008
See also: ► Proofs and ► Caroline Myss and ► Temptation

 

Links zum Thema Teresa von Ávila / Teresa of Ávila

Literatur

Literature (engl.)

Externe Weblinks


External web links (engl.)


Teresa of Avila stated in "The Interior Castle" that few souls ever approach the threshold of the "interior castle" and enter within.

Researcher Rudolph Bell found that 50% of 170 Italian medieval saints (1200-end 1500 AD) exhibited symptoms of anorexia as a characteristic of sanctity. Teresa of Avila used twigs of olives to induce vomiting to empty her stomach.

Audio- und Videolinks

Audio and video links (engl.)

 

Interne Links

Hawkins

 

 

Anhand der Skala des Bewusstseins (Gradeinteilung von 1-1000), erarbeitet von Dr. David R. Hawkins, hat Teresa von Ávila einen Bewusstseinswert von 715.
Innerhalb von Hawkins' System rangiert die Mystikerin Teresa von Ávila als erleuchtete Weise im Bereich der nichtdualen Schöpfungsebene.
Quelle: Transcending the Levels of Consciousness. The Stairway to Enlightenment, S. 293, 2006
Letzte Bearbeitung:
15.08.2023 um 14:41 Uhr

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