Interior Castle: The Classic Text with a Spiritual Commentary

by Teresa of Avila, Dennis Billy C.Ss.R.

Overview

Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle is one of the most celebrated books of Christian mysticism ever written. In this new edition, the classic translation by E. Allison Peers is united with fresh spiritual commentary by Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R., making it the only edition of this work to provide spiritual nourishment in an accessible form while remaining completely faithful to Teresa's mystical vision.

Remarkably simple both in style and structure, Teresa's Interior Castle begins with the vision of the soul as a "castle made of a single diamond ... in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions." Building on this image, Teresa constructs a work of stunning spiritual and psychological wisdom. In his commentary, Dennis Billy breathes fresh air into this timeless work by examining Teresa's thought in its historical context and summarizing her teaching in a brief and straightforward manner.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870612626
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	04/01/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	367,693
File size:	768 KB

About the Author

St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582) was a Carmelite nun, reformer, theologian, mystic, and author of many essential spiritual classics of the Catholic tradition, including The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection. She was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV and Pope Paul VI named her a Doctor of the Church in 1970.
Father Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R., is a teacher, writer, and poet. Ordained a Redemptorist priest in 1980, he taught the history of moral theology and Christian spirituality at the Alphonsian Academy of Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University for more than twenty years, reaching the rank of Ordinary Professor. In 2008 he was installed as the John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology as a scholar-in-residence at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He also serves as the Karl Rahner Professor of Catholic Theology at the Graduate Theological Foundation in Mishawaka, Indiana. Raised in Staten Island, New York, and educated there through high school in local Catholic schools, he graduated from Dartmouth College and went on to receive four master's degrees, as well as doctorates from Harvard University, the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, and the Graduate Theological Foundation. Billy is the author of numerous books and articles, both popular and scholarly.

Table of Contents

Introduction     9
How to Read: Interior Castle     21
Prologue     33
First Mansions     37
Chapter 1     39
Chapter 2     47
Second Mansions     59
Chapter 1     61
Third Mansions     71
Chapter 1     73
Chapter 2     81
Fourth Mansions     91
Chapter 1     93
Chapter 2     103
Chapter 3     111
Fifth Mansions     123
Chapter 1     125
Chapter 2     133
Chapter 3     143
Chapter 4     151
Sixth Mansions     159
Chapter 1     161
Chapter 2     171
Chapter 3     177
Chapter 4     187
Chapter 5     197
Chapter 6     205
Chapter 7     215
Chapter 8     227
Chapter 9     235
Chapter 10     245
Chapter 11     251
Seventh Mansions     259
Chapter 1     261
Chapter 2     269
Chapter 3     277
Chapter4     287
Epilogue     297
Notes     301
Suggested Readings     315