lesson 3 mysticism – st teresa of avila

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Mysticism – St Teresa of Avila By the end of this lesson you will have: • Discovered who St Teresa was and why she is influential for mysticism • Studied her Watered Garden and Interior Castle analogies • Practised an exam question on St Teresa

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Page 1: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

Mysticism – St Teresa of Avila

By the end of this lesson you will have:

•Discovered who St Teresa was and why she is

influential for mysticism• Studied her Watered

Garden and Interior Castle analogies

• Practised an exam question on St Teresa

Page 2: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

St Teresa

• Also known as ‘Teresa of Jesus’• Claimed her ‘visions’ gave an insight into the nature of

God• Claimed to reach a ‘spiritual marriage’ in 1572 with Jesus• She was the first to catalogue ‘stages’ in mystical

experience• Her accounts of her own experience gave a scientific

description of the Christian ‘life of prayer’• Her ‘protocol’ for identifying religious experience was

threefold...

Page 3: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

St Teresa

• 1. The experience should be within the traditions of the Church

• 2. The experience should be discussed with a spiritual advisor

• 3. There should be some sort of change in the life of the person

Page 4: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

Watered Garden and Interior Castle

• St Teresa used analogies to describe her mystical experiences.• Why might Teresa need to use analogies top describe her

mystical experience?• Teresa describes her experience with God through ‘stages’ of

prayer. • This again relates to the ladder of ‘climbing’ to Christ

• TASK: Using your workbook and the picture sheet, transfer Teresa’s analogies onto the sheet in easy to understand language. It must be thorough enough, however, to use as revision.

Page 5: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

Quickfire Questions

• 1. What, according to Miller, are the five main characteristics of all mystical experiences?

• 2. What vision did St Teresa of Avila see that inspired her to a life of prayer?

• 3. What metaphor does Teresa employ to describe the various stages of prayer?

• 4. How many mansions were in the interior castle and what did they represent?

Page 6: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

Grade Boosts

• When writing about mystics it is important that you demonstrate to the examiner how they showed ‘mysticism’ in practice.

• You have to talk about their contributions to mystical experience and the various ways that they may have done this

• You should make FREQUENT reference to their writings and support your comments.

Page 7: Lesson 3  mysticism – st teresa of avila

Exam Question

• Explain the life and work of St Teresa of Avila (30)