The Mystical Experience of Saint Teresa of Avila: The Voice of Silence in the Meditation of the Dark Night

Abstract

This article explores the mystical experience of Sainte Therese of Avila, mainly the voice of silence as a metaphor for spiritual transformation, more known specifically as the dark night of the soul. Developing a simple and efficient literary language, the Saint has built the founding principles of a mystical discourse marked by its social and religious conditions, which have motivated the emergence of spiritual writing characterized by immediacy and efficiency, mostly in her own poetry. Our analysis is focused on the emergence of a specific language, both poetic and didactic, which places the mystical experience of Sainte Therese in the heart of the scriptural and spiritual enterprise of the Devotio Moderna.