Thesis advisor: André Brouillette / Thesis advisor: Barton Geger / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

No description available.

In this thesis I attempt to illustrate that there is common ground between Christianity and Islam in the area of spirituality. The procedure taken is one of describing the spiritual path from the perspectives of al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) and St. Teresa of Ávila (d. 1582) in a comparative manner. The three-fold categorization of the spiritual path as consisting of the stages of purgation, illumination, and union, is used to provide the format for this comparison. Chapter one deals with biographical material and historical contexts, noting similarities in their experiences, contexts, and contributions. Chapter two discusses the beginning stage of the spiritual path — purgation — dealing with the requirements of renunciation of the world and of one's self, repentance and the battle of the spirit with and victory over the flesh. The next stage — illumination — comprises chapter three. Here it is seen how the purgation of the self from all vice is a prerequisite to receiving divine manifestations to the soul. The roles of prayer, obedience, and the cultivation of virtues are discussed. Union, the final stage, is dealt with in chapter four. The meaning of union is discussed, including its various degrees, and how the mystic is consequently transformed. The conclusion summarizes the findings of the previous chapters. It is seen that there is a great deal of commonality in the teachings of al-Ghazālī and St. Teresa; but differences also arise marking their spiritualities as being uniquely Muslim and Christian, respectively. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate

Thesis advisor: André Brouillette / Thesis advisor: Colleen Griffith / Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

This study argues that religious orders in early modern Spain developed informal sets of procedures to handle the consequences of melancholia in their communities. It also argues that three influential members of these orders, San Ignacio de Loyola of the Jesuits, and San Teresa de Avila and San Juan de la Cruz of the Discalced Carmelites, tailored these protocols according to their own private concerns and experience with the disease. The changing discourse surrounding melancholia and similar diseases during the early modern period, alongside the unique environmental concerns of these newly founded orders, created a need for new methods of dealing with the disruptions caused by melancholic members of the clergy. These solutions formed out of the immediate needs within each order, but ultimately defined the relationship between melancholic brothers and sisters and their communities.

<p>As a woman who claimed to experienced supernatural phenomena, such as spiritual visions and raptures, Teresa of Ávila had to face accusations of deception while confronting her own doubts of being self-deceived. Both religious authorities and visionary women in sixteenth-century Spain used the idea of deception to either dictate or challenge the dominant religious discourse. Ultimately, Teresa succeed at convincing ecclesial powers of the legitimacy of her experiences, a mandatory step for her canonization. Other visionaries were not as successful, and I analyze whether Teresa’s rhetorical strategies played a role in ensuring her effective defense of the authenticity of her visions.</p> This analysis of Teresa of Ávila as a visionary woman who felt the need to confront the problem of deception questions the usefulness of the traditional interpretation of visionary women as either deceivers or deceived. I argue that deception has traditionally functioned as a tool of sociopolitical marginalization, and that rulers of public discourse have ignored or dismissed the voices of visionary women. This work indicates the urgency of including their stories in the larger discussion on the credibility of women’s accounts of their own life experiences.

Religious theater or erotic sculpture? A study of how the sculpture group Ecstasy of Saint Teresaand the Cornaro chapel have been described and used in literature of art history. This study aims to investigate how the sculpture group Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and the Cornarochapel has been written about and presented in literature about art history. The method has been tostudy literature, to visit the Cornaro chapel, and to make comparisons between pictures, texts andown experiences.The questions set out to be answered was; How has the Cornaro chapel and the Ecstasy of SaintTeresa been described and interpreted in literature of art history? What kind of pictures are beingused to illustrate the chapel? What is in focus and what is withheld in the presentation of the chapel,in text and in pictures? Is it possible to see a change, in how art historians write about the Cornarochapel, over time?Reading and comparing the texts and pictures that illustrates the literature, makes visible how thebaroque period, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Teresa av Avila and the Cornaro chapel has been presented inthe chosen literature, and answered the questions.The similarities between the Cornaro chapel and a theater stage, Bernini's interest in the theaterand his devout Catholicism, as well as the Counter-reformation's use of art to reach their goal ofmaking people more devout to Catholicism, is in focus. The erotic overtones in the sculpture groupare being withheld as well as Bernini's personality. Saint Teresa's work for the Counter reformationand how her texts and spirituality affected her contemporaries are also withheld.The pictures that illustrates the chapel in the studied literature are similar to each other, and oftenshow a close-up of the sculpture group with the saint and the angel, but also an overview of thechapel. The pictures are with no exceptions taken from a viewpoint inaccessible to a visitor of thechapel. The changes seen in the literature is that art history is becoming more contextualized.The sculpture group is not a religious theater, nor an erotic sculpture, but both at the same time.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Diplomová práce "Duchovní vedení v životě sv. Terezie z Avily" má za cíl poukázat na místo duchovního vedení v životě této světice a její vztah k duchovním vůdcům. Nejdříve se stručně zabýváme poznatky o jejím životě a dobou, do které své charisma přinesla. Dále se věnuje duchovnímu vedení obecně a různým dilematům, na které v této době můžeme narazit. Největší část se však zaobírá duchovním vedením v životě světice. Tato mystička na své duchovní cestě považovala duchovní vedení za velmi důležitou a nezbytnou složku života a i její texty obsahují celou řadu pastoračních doporučení, jak má toto vedení probíhat.

This practical theological study draws on the theological method of Don S. Browning to implement a mutually critical correlation between the everyday experiences of people with disabilities depicted in six case study narratives and selected texts of two mystical authors, Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. The study brings to light the harsh everyday reality of living with a physical disability, articulates disability as a practice, and outlines the operative effective history of the United States associated with physical disability. This operative history has long kept the harsh reality of embodied vulnerability hidden from view and thus has contributed to the marginalization of people with disabilities. The critical dialogue between the narratives of persons with disabilities and the selected mystical texts provides a new hermeneutical lens through which to read mystical theology and reveals insights into embodiment and marginalization that bear implications for spirituality studies, disability studies, and practical theology. This dissertation argues that scholars in disability studies neglect embodied vulnerability when they define disability only as a social construction. Chapter One proposes that disability is both a social construction and a biological reality. The next chapter illustrates that people with disabilities still experience existential absurdity and that predominant norms in the United States (however unconscious) continue to try to conceal or avoid the negative effects of embodied difference. The study then analyzes the themes of embodiment and marginalization in the mystical theologies of Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila. Chapter Three reveals that Julian’s relational conception of the Trinity and God’s immanence in the humblest of needs offer ways to establish dignity for people with disabilities. Chapter Four shows that mystical prayer provides impetus for Teresa’s work as a social reformer, which challenges sixteenth century Spain to welcome conversos and value women. The final chapter shows that the mutually critical conversation offers a starting point for building theological constructs of embodied spirituality to respond to the avoidance of embodied vulnerability and the challenges of living with physical disability.