The Heirs of St. Teresa of Avila:

Defenders and Disseminators of the Founding Mother's Legacy

This issue of Carmelite Studies presents new insights into the lives and writings of individuals who knew Teresa of Ávila in life and who, after her death in 1582, worked to propagate and defend her legacy, including the illustrious nuns Ana de San Bartolomé, Ana de Jesús, María de San José, and Ana de San Agustín, and her close male confidant and collaborator, Jerónimo Gracián de la Madre de Dios.  A further focus of the essays is the reception of the Teresian heritage by individuals outside the order, as mediated by these early Discalced Carmelites and by Teresa's published writings.

The essays were originally presented at the 2004 symposium "The Heirs of St. Teresa" at Georgetown University.  That year marked the 400th anniversary of a pivotal moment in Discalced Carmelite history: the arrival in France of a group of six nuns, some of Teresa's most favored protégées, including Ana de Jesús and Ana de San Bartolomé, who traveled from Spain to inaugurate the order's first French convent.  Motivated by devotion to their Founding Mother, amidst success and setbacks, these and other of Teresa's heirs strove to carry out her will with a resolute determination and to extend her reputation for sanctity throughout the world. 

ICS Publications is pleased to issue this volume in its series Carmelite Studies conjointly with the Institutum Carmelitanum of the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance in Rome.