Autobiography and Other Writings (review)

The University of Chicago Press and Darcy Donahue have performed a valuable service by making available this fine translation of the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila's close friend and companion, Ana de San Bartolomé. With Ana de Jesús, Ana de San Bartolomé brought the Discalced Carmelite movement into France and the Low Countries, where she founded several convents. Her writings shed light on the everyday lives of Carmelite nuns and on the political and religious conflicts of the period as these were experienced first-hand by women. The book constitutes a significant contribution to women's history and to European religious history.

The daughter of landholding Spanish peasants, Ana de San Bartolomé (1549-1626) was orphaned at age ten. Although her older siblings tried to marry her off, Ana was determined to become a nun. In 1570 she entered the Discalced Carmelite Convent of San José in Avila, where she became personal assistant and companion to Teresa. In 1604, Ana de Jesús and Ana de San Bartolomé left for France to found the first French Discalced Carmelite convent in Paris. In 1611 Ana de San Bartolomé went to the Low Countries to continue her work.

Like all autobiographies, Ana's is a work of self-fashioning. Ana presents herself as Teresa's true disciple: 'I [...] was witness that she was really a true saint and that what the Lord had told me about suffering many troubles in her company was true' (59). Ana argues that she received Teresa's counsel not only during the saint's lifetime but also after her death, through visions and locutions. This intimate relationship with Teresa bestows authority on Ana, which enables her to forge ahead with her projects in the face of opposition. Although Ana scatters expressions of humility throughout her writing - she is an 'ignorant and simple' woman, a 'worm' - she perseveres because, she maintains, Teresa and God himself guide her through difficulties.

Ana depicts herself as a mystic who was blessed from a very early age with visions of Jesus and even 'the essence of God' (66). Once, in a time of crisis, Christ appears to her with a vision of a flowering Carmel, a sign that she will ultimately triumph. Ana also presents herself as a miracle worker. When faced with a long drought, she prays for rain and the heavens open. Although Ana was not an educated woman - she reputedly learned to write 'miraculously', by copying a few lines in Teresa's hand - she was familiar with scripture, probably through sermons, and sometimes alludes to Bible stories to reinforce her arguments.

Ana makes it clear that class and political strife constantly penetrated the cloister. She complains about the nationalism and cliquishness of the French nuns, who resent her authority, and about the interference of laypersons in convent affairs. She protests against the calumnies of heretics, who bring unfounded charges of sexual misconduct against the sisters. She criticizes the non-Carmelite French confessors, who try to maintain control over the Carmelite nuns, often inflicting verbal and psychological abuse. In particular she rails against Pierre de Bérulle, who turned her life into 'a true purgatory' (89) with his constant demands and belittling.

What emerges from the Autobiography is a portrait of a strong, spirited, self-confident woman with a clear sense of purpose. Even in her darkest moments, Ana saw herself as chosen by God and Teresa to advance the goals of the reform. Unlike Teresa, who is often cautious in making claims to authority, Ana is assertive. Although she uses many of Teresa's favourite metaphors (the soul as a silkworm, for example), overall her writing lacks the nuance and poetry of Teresa's. Yet, this is definitely a book worth reading. Sister Ana is a feisty, likeable character, and her observations humanize the religious conflict of the early seventeenth century.

Donahue has also included three additional selections: Ana's account of the hardships faced by...