A refreshingly modern reconsideration of Saint Teresa (1515-1582), one of the greatest mystics and reformers to emerge within the sixteenth-century Catholic Church, whose writings are a keystone of modern mystical thought.

From the very beginning of her life in a convent, following the death of her mother and the marriage of her older sister, it was clear that Teresa's expansive nature, intensity, and energy would not be easily confined. Cathleen Medwick shows us a powerful daughter of the Church and her times who was a very human mass of contradictions: a practical and no-nonsense...

The works of Spanish nun SAINT TERESA OF AVILA (1515-1582) rank among the most extraordinary mystical writings of Roman Catholicism and among the classics of all religious traditions. The Way of Perfection was written in order for the saint to instruct her nuns in proper prayer, but it is applicable for all Christians wishing to deepen their religious practice and achieve a greater connection with God. Through devotion, austerity, poverty, and most of all humility, she invites the presence of God into her life so that she may do His work. And these qualities she hopes to encourage in all...