Exercises on the Spanish Mystical Saints

The tradition of the Catholic Church has great moments of high literary contribution associated with religious doctrine. In sixteenth-century Spain, the Spanish mystical saints Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross were great representatives of a special mode of Catholic literature. The main works of these authors, respectively, are:

a) “Auto da barca do Inferno” and “Os Lusíadas”

b) “Abodes of the Inner Castle” and “Dark Night”.

c) “Don Quixote de la Mancha” and “Spiritual combats against the Pelagians”.

d) “The temptations of Santo Antão” and “Intimate Life”.

e) “Addresses of the Inner Castle” and “The Prince”.

Catholic mysticism in Spain flourished in the second half of the 16th century. This happened at that time, mainly:

a) by the strong tendency of Spanish Catholics to form occult secret societies.

b) for the incidence of Gnostic mysticism within the Spanish bishoprics.

c) because the Spanish kingdoms were co-opted by the Lutheran Reformation.

d) due to the fact that Spain has become one of the Catholic nations most combative to reformist tendencies.

e) because these saints absorbed their mysticism from the heritage of Muslims converted to Catholicism.

Santa Teresa of Ávila and São João da Cruz belonged to a specific Catholic order, which was founded in the Middle Ages, having been reformed by the aforementioned saints in the 16th century. That order was:

a) Ordem do Carmo

b) Order of Franciscans

c) Order of the Benedictines

d) Order of the Capuchins

e) Opus Dei

Catholic mysticism is characterized by charisma, that is, the ability of a religious to establish direct contact with Christ or his angels through visions and hearings and also through physical sensations . The Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini produced the famous sculpture “The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa” as a way to give a visual opportunity to this type of phenomenon, which, at the time, was narrated by the saint herself. In the sculpture, Saint Teresa appears about to have her heart penetrated by a golden arrow brought by an angel. This mystical phenomenon, according to Catholic tradition, is called:

a) Visionary Liturgy

b) Sublimation

c) Transverberation

d) Incarnation

e) Transcription

Letter B

In “Moradas do Castelo Interior”, Santa Teresa developed a method of self-knowledge related to spiritual meditation and the practice of prayer, which, according to her, has seven levels. In “Noite Escura”, Saint John of the Cross, in the form of poetry, established a succession of allegorical images that represent the mystical union of souls with Christ.

Letter D

In the second half of the 16th century, the so-called Catholic Counter-Reformation began, which intended both to reform the foundations of the Catholic tradition and to reject the Protestant ideas that rivaled that tradition. The Iberian nations, Portugal and Spain, were among those most rooted in medieval Catholicism. Catholic mysticism had fertile ground at this time.

Letter A

The Order of Carmo was founded in Israel, on Mount Carmo. In 1593, Saint Teresa and Saint John of the Cross were responsible for a reform of this order, which became known in Spain as the “Order of Discalced Carmelites”, supported by Pope Clement VIII.

Letter C

Transverberation is described by Catholic tradition as a phenomenon that happens directly in the soul of the saint. In order to be transverberated, the saint must have reached a very high degree of Grace and, thus, be visited and marked by the action of the angels (as in the case of Saint Teresa, marked in the heart).