The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself (Penguin Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Woman for Your Spiritual Journey
Review: This book will introduce you to St. Teresa through passages such as her visions of angels, her vision of Christ, and the stages of contemplative prayer. Her writing is simple and easy to follow, but has great depth to it. The person beginning a life of prayer is presented as a gardener who must care for his or her garden so that it will bloom with flowers and good scents. Once the garden is well cared for, God will come to enjoy the garden. Eventually, a life of contemplative prayer, she writes, will climax to union and then ecstasy . Of remarkable beauty is her first vision of Christ, which is a vision of just His hands. The next vision is of His face. Even if you do not believe in such things or want to follow a path as intense as hers, her story is still incredible and worth the read. It is also an exhilarating read if you enjoy autobiographies.

Rating:
Summary: Heavenly Work, Not-so-Heavenly Translation
Review: This is one of the best works in the Catholic Christian literature. However, this particular translation is not a good translation from the Spanish; it is not entirely accurate. E. Allison Peers does a much better job translating and her translation is better spiritually.