The Ascetic Spirituality of Juan De Avila 1499-1569

by Roldan-figueroa, Rady

• ISBN13: 9789004192041
• ISBN10: 9004192042
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-30
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Summary

Asceticism, Spirituality, Mental Prayer, Frequent Communion, Women's Asceticism, Early modern Spain, Juan de Ávila, Council of Trent, Inquisition

Excerpts

THE ASCETIC SPIRITUALITY OF JUAN DE ÁVILA (1499-1569)PrefaceI became interested in Juan de Ávila shortly after defending my doctoral dissertation at Boston University on 22 December 2004. With the publication of this book, I am ready to offer my assessment of this remarkable character of Spanish Golden Age spirituality. There are several aspects of his life and career that caught my attention in 2004 and that have remained influential throughout the writing of this book, chief among them his judeoconverso background. Though scholars have increasingly identified him as the author of a distinctively judeoconverso spirituality, there are currently virtually no comprehensive studies of his spirituality that seriously take into account this important side of Juan de Ávila. The only exception is the work of Rafael Arce, San Juan de Ávila y la reforma de la Iglesia en España, which insists that Ávila's judeoconverso ancestry decisively shaped his ideas on institutional reform. Like Arce, at an early stage of my research I was thinking of Ávila primarily as a reformer. Over time I recognized that his reforming impulse was a corollary of his spirituality. Hence, in this book I focus my attention on Juan de Ávila as spiritual advisor and the practice of mental prayer as the core exercise of his spiritual program.In this book, I try to reconstruct his spiritual practices from texts because I am primarily interested in Juan de Ávila's spiritual exercises and the theological accounts that he provides of them. Accordingly, there is much historical theology behind my reconstruction of his spiritual program and this reflects my own training and background in historical theology. Nevertheless, its subject required an interdisciplinary approach and I hope that Hispanists, historians, and systematic theologians will consequently find something of interest in it.All translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. For English renderings of biblical passages I have relied on the Douay-Rheims text (Challoner revision), therefore I follow the book order of the Latin Vulgate. I have modernized most Spanish quotations for ease of reading.Over the years, I have enjoyed the support and encouragement of a number of exceptional teachers and mentors. I would like to acknowledge those who introduced me to the study of the Spanish Golden Age, a period of time that also witnessed the Spanish colonization of my beloved Puerto Rico. Among them are Fausto Lora and India Bubonis. During my undergraduate work at the University of Puerto Rico, I benefited immensely from the scholarship and wisdom of several of its talented faculty, including Silvia Alvarez-Curbelo, Rafael Bernabé, Manuel Cárdenas Ruiz, José Garriga Pico, Carmen Pérez Herrance, and Carlos Rodríguez Fraticelli. I would never have completed my graduate work in the United States without the support and encouragement of those involved with the Hispanic Theological Initiative, currently housed at Princeton Theological Seminary. I am grateful to Joanne Rodríguez, María Kennedy, Angela Schoepf, and other members of their staff for their passion and commitment to theological education. Others who have been a great source of personal inspiration are Justo González, Luis Rivera Pagan, Luis Rivera Rodríguez, Richard Weiss, and Ward Holder. I am forever indebted to my professors at Boston University, Carter Lindberg and Dana L. Robert. Several generous summer sabbaticals from Baylor University, a grant from the University Research Committee, and a Lilly Theological Scholar Grant awarded by the Association of Theological Schools made possible the research for and writing of this book. Special thanks are due to David Whitford, David Garland, and William H. Bellinger for their trust in me at different moments of my professional career. In addition, I want to recognize Susan D. Bowlin, Janet E. Jasek, Libby Shockley, Michael W. Skinner, Darryl B. Stuhr, Laura Sumrall, and Beth Tice for their assiduous assistance in helping me secure books and articles that I needed as part of my research. A word of appreciation is in order for Anne Schutte who very kindly read and made comments on some chapters. Finally, I am grateful to William R. Bowen at the University of Toronto Scarborough and editor of Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme for granting me permission to use material in this book that was previously published in that journal.There are several people to whom I could have dedicated this book. Chief among them is my mother, Mercedes Figueroa Ruiz, for her courage and bravery after the untimely death of my father; she did everything within her reach to raise my sister Ruby and me. My wife and friend, Kretcha M. Roldan-Rodríguez, and my children, Benjamin Manuel and Gabriela Renée, justly deserve the dedication not only of this book but also of the best of my endeavors. However, I have decided to dedicate the volume to my grandmother, Isidra Ruiz. She played an important role in my upbringing and, to use an expression from Juan de Ávila, from very early she was my paragon (dechado) of devotion and piety.Rady Roldan-Figueroa26 March 2010