This Art Guide video is to be used at Step 3: Contemplation of Columban Visio Divina - A resource to help you pray using the images and Art Guide of the 2022 Columban Art Calendar.
The Holy Spirit descending upon St Teresa of Ávila, Oil on canvas, c. 1877 by Eduardo Balaco y Orejas-Canseco (Museo del Prado, Spain)
This moving painting by the Spanish artist Eduardo Balaco y Orejas-Canseco (1840–1914) evokes the serene mystical beauty of the great 16th-century Carmelite mystic Saint Teresa of Ávila. Born in Spain in 1515, Teresa joined the Carmelite order and is acclaimed as a mystic, author, reformer and theologian of the contemplative life. Her reforming zeal led to the establishment of the Discalced Carmelites. St Teresa is depicted in an intimate and prayerful exchange with the Holy Spirit, symbolised by the swooping white dove; while inscribed on the unfurled scroll is the Latin text, “Misericordias domini in aeternum cantabo…”, “I will sing the mercies of the Lord for eternity”, a prayer of praise drawn from Psalm 89.
Balaco aptly represents St Teresa in deep contemplation since the saint is regarded as one of the great writers on mental prayer based on her own experiences. Teresa wrote: “Contemplative prayer, in my opinion, is nothing other than a close sharing between friends. It means frequently taking time to be alone with Him whom we know loves us.” Fittingly then, the inscription to the left of the painting reads “S. Teresa, de Jesus” (St Teresa of Jesus). This title for the saint conveys the nature and intent of the Spanish mystical movement in the Catholic Reformation of 17th century Spain, which set out to renew the Church spiritually. As one of the great Spanish mystics, Teresa wished to express her experience of mystical communion with Jesus Christ. She earned the rare distinction of “Doctor of the Church” for her major contribution to ascetic doctrine through writing and experience.
