Apr 28 / Dance and Spirituality in the European Faith
Unit: Dance and Spirituality
Theme: Teresa of Avila & Other Mystics
I
Introduction
Teresa of Avila, also known as St. Teresa of Avila or St. Teresa of Jesus, became popular in all parts of the Spanish empire for being a mystic. Of particular importance for this course was her pursuit of divine ecstasy, something that caused her to go in front of the Inquisition and advocate for herself. After creating the order of Descalced Carmelitas and writing The Book of my Life, her teachings spread through out the world.
II
Learning Objectives
- Understand the meaning of ecstasy in the context of Catholic faith
- Explain the importance of Teresa's mystic and philosophic thought
- Gain an awareness of the work done by St. Teresa de Jesus
- Experience the spiritual dances inspired by de Avila's teachings
- Reflect on the work done in class
III
Main Lesson
1
Textos in Spanish
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Prosa_escogida/c8QOAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&dq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&printsec=frontcover
Teresa de Avila Clasica by Argimiro Ruano
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Teresa_de_Avila_cl%C3%A1sica/FJVaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&dq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&printsec=frontcover
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/El_Guacamayo_y_la_serpiente/mjpTAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&dq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&printsec=frontcover
El Pendulo de Foucault by Umberto Eco
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/El_p%C3%A9ndulo_de_Foucault/r0XtPZleMKwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Misticismo+de+Santa+teresa+de+Avila+y+la+posesi%C3%B3n&pg=PT230&printsec=frontcover
2
Video-Presentations
a) Teresa of Avila | Philosopher and Mystic
b) Juliana Cesano - The Way of the Mystic: St. Teresa of Avila's Life and Teaching
c) St. Teresa of Avila—Mystical Experiences and Spiritual Direction: CarmelCast Season 11 Episode 4
3
Del Adaja al Almendares. Santa Teresa de Jesus y Dulce Maria Loinaz: Versos Compartidos
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/5175/517558792042/517558792042.pdf
"Su centro no es estrictamente corporal y no se encuentra dentro, sino arriba, lo trasciende y lo supera: lo excede" (Page 9)
Poem by Teresa de Avila
(Page 7)
Vivo sin vivir en mí,
Y tan alta vida espero,
Que muero porque no muero.
Glosa
Aquesta divina unión,
del amor con que yo vivo,
hace a Dios ser mi cautivo,
y libre mi corazón;
mas causa en mí tal pasión
ver a Dios mi prisionero,
que muero porque no muero.
¡Ay! ¡Qué larga es esta vida!
¡Qué duros estos destierros,
esta cárcel y estos hierros
en que el alma está metida!
Sólo esperar la salida
me causa un dolor tan fiero,
que muero porque no muero.
¡Ay! ¡Qué vida tan amarga
do no se goza el Señor!
Y si es dulce el amor,
no lo es la esperanza larga;
quíteme Dios esta carga,
más pesada que de acero,
que muero porque no muero.
Sólo con la confianza
vivo de que he de morir,
porque muriendo el vivir
me asegura mi esperanza;
muerte do el vivir se alcanza,
no te tardes, que te espero,
que muero porque no muero.
Mira que el amor es fuerte:
vida, no seas molesta;
mira que sólo te resta,
para ganarte, perderte;
venga ya la dulce muerte,
venga el morir muy ligero,
que muero porque no muero.
Aquella vida de arriba
es la vida verdadera:
hasta que esta vida muera,
no se goza estando viva:
muerte, no seas esquiva;
vivo muriendo primero,
que muero porque no muero.
Vida, ¿qué puedo yo darle
a mi Dios, que vive en mí
si no es perderte a ti,
para mejor a Él gozarle?
Quiero muriendo alcanzarle,
pues a él solo es el que quiero,
que muero porque no muero.
Estando ausente de ti,
¿qué vida puedo tener,
sino muerte padecer
la mayor que nunca vi?
Lástima tengo de mí,
por ser mi mal tan entero,
que muero porque no muero.
----------------------------------------
I live without living in myself,
And I hope for such a lofty life,
That I die because I do not die.
Gloss
This divine union,
of the love with which I live,
makes God my captive,
and frees my heart;
but it causes such passion in me
to see God my prisoner,
that I die because I do not die.
Alas! How long is this life!
How hard these exiles,
this prison, and these irons
in which the soul is confined!
Just waiting for the exit
causes me such fierce pain,
that I die because I don't die.
Alas! What a bitter life
where the Lord doesn't rejoice!
And if love is sweet,
hope is not long;
May God take this burden away from me,
heavier than steel,
for I die because I don't die.
Only with the confidence
I live that I must die,
because dying, living
assures me of my hope;
death where living is attained,
do not delay, for I await you,
for I die because I don't die.
See that love is strong:
life, do not be troublesome;
see that all that's left for you is
to win you, to lose you;
come sweet death now,
come dying very quickly,
for I die because I don't die.
That life above
is true life:
until this life dies,
one cannot enjoy being alive:
Death, do not be shy;
I live by dying first,
for I die because I do not die.
Life, what can I give
to my God, who lives in me
if not to lose you,
so that I may better enjoy Him?
By dying, I want to reach Him,
for He alone is the One I love,
for I die because I do not die.
Being absent from you,
what life can I have,
but to suffer
the greatest death I have ever seen?
I pity myself,
for my evil is so complete,
for I die because I do not die.
Hipogrifo, 2018, 6(1), January-June, ISSN: 2328-1308
PDF generado a partir de XML-JATS4R por Redalyc
Proyecto académico sin fines de lucro, desarrollado
bajo la iniciativa de acceso abierto
Ven Dulce Muerte / Come, Sweet Death by J.S. Bach (1736)
Bach uses the composer's book edited by Georg Christian Schemeli. This piece with music by Bach (listen to the video below) is, according to Alejandro Gonzalez Acosta, the most attractive. In this piece, Bach perceives the dramatic and pious character of the poet's prayer to obtain the grace of fast and gentle death. (Page 9)
The composer uses the poem below from around year 1724:
Komm, süßer Tod, Komm selge Ruh!
Komm Führe mich in Friede,
Weilich der Welt bin müde,
Ach Komm! Ich wart auf dich,
Komm bald und führe mich,
drück mir die Augenzu.
Konne, selge Ruh!
¡Ven, dulce Muerte, ven, bendito descanso!
Ven a conducirme hacia la paz
porque estoy agotado del mundo,
¡Oh, ven! Te espero.
Ven pronto y condúceme,
cierra mis ojos
¡Ven, bendito descanso!
400 años después de Santa Teresa y 200 de Bach, Dulce María Loynaz escribe uno de sus «Poemas dispersos» 18 de 1958:
«La hija pródiga»
¿Qué me queda por dar, dada mi vida?
Si semilla, aventada a otro surco,
Si linfa, derramada en todo suelo,
si llama, en todo tenebrario ardida.
¿Qué me queda por dar, dada mi muerte
también? En cada sueño, en cada día;
mi muerte vertical, mi sorda muerte
que nadie me la sabe todavía.
¿Qué me queda por dar, si por dar doy
—y porque es cosa mía, y desde ahora
si Dios no me sujeta o no me corta
las manos torpes— mi resurrección!…
Read Gonzalez Acosta's Analysis (Page 14, paragraph 3)
4
Page 172
5
The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Carlos Eire
https://www.google.pt/books/edition/The_Life_of_Saint_Teresa_of_Avila/F9SPDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=St+Teresa+of+Avila,+carlo+Eire&printsec=frontcover
Ecstasy suggests that she did not see angels in corporeal form very often, but that the Lord sometimes (algunas veces) granted her "this vision" (esta vision) of an angle poised beside her, to her left, in bodily form. (Page 22)
You really feel the body cooling down as it loses its natural heat, with the greatest sweetness and delight. At this point there is no way to resist... (Page 90)
I say that it has left my body feeling very light many times, even weightless, sometimes so much so that I have been unable to feel my feet touching the ground. (Page 92)
Teresa's inter-national reach then can be attributed in great measure to her Vida, and to the impact that the text had on the Catholic world. (Page 112)
5
Repercussion of her work in Cuba
a) Iglesia Santa Teresa de Jesús in Sola
Sola is a Cuban town and consejo popular of the municipality of Sierra de Cubitas, in Camagüey Province. With a population of about 10,000, it is the largest settlement of its municipality, including the seat town of Cubitas. Sola is situated 9 km southeast of Iglesia Santa Teresa de Jesús.
https://mapcarta.com/N4331254111
b) Iglesia de Santa Teresa de Jesus, Mariel
https://www.ecured.cu/Iglesia_de_Santa_Teresa_de_Jes%C3%BAs
Convento de Santa Teresa de Jesus en La Habana
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/3768/376862225003/html/
c) Parroquia Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús, Santiago de Cuba
6
Book
In reference to the grace of God, "this grace is enough for you at every second, so that you might fill it with God and it might become a drop of eternity. Do not let the world steal from you the baskets of your life and leave them empty. (Skandar, 2019)
IV
A Note to Remember
A master at multitasking, Teresa also wrote poems, meditations, instructions and more than five hundred letters.
V
Case Studies
1
Dance and Spirituality: Teresa of Avila
https://cid-ds.org/teresa-davila/
https://cid-ds.org/videos/
Dance in Catholic Doctrine
https://cid-ds.org/christianitycontemporarycatholic/
2
San Juan de la Cruz
"Llama de amor viva": Otro poema místico que explora la experiencia de la unión con Dios.
Llama de Amor Viva / San Juan de la Cruz
"Lo que el mystico ha descubierto es que Dios es suma humildad"
3
San Charbel
"We cannot fight the evil one with his own weapon, otherwise we become evil like them. We only have our prayers. We must pray, and pray a lot."
4
Esteban Salas
VI
Activity 1
Using De Avila's and Loinaz's poems as a reference, write your own stream of consciousness poem. Then, turn your poem into an expressive movement version of it.
Activity 2
Using the essentials of the centering prayer method engage in a mindful meditation. Following the steps:
1. Choose a sacred word as a symbol of your intention to consent to God's presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly, and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God's presence and action within.
3. When you become aware of thoughts, return wver-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
VII
Journaling
VIII
Glossary
IX
Sources
Rouget, Gilbert (1987). Music and Trance: A theory of the Relations Between Music and Possession. University of Chicago Press
Skandar, Hannah (2019). Love is a Radiant Light: The Life and Words of St. Charbel. Angelico Press.
X
Students' Work
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