The Book of Her Foundations: A Study Guide

Study Guide prepared by Marc Foley, OCD. Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD


The Book of Her Foundations is the least read, the least quoted, the least known of St. Teresa's works. Why this is so is probably because people do not think it is a spiritual book. But as you read on, you find that St. Teresa grew in holiness, not in spite of obstacles such as being entangled in lawsuits, mired down in disputes over dowries, tied up in interminable bureaucratic red-tape, and having to deal with unscrupulous businessmen, but because of these difficulties. None of these challenges impeded her spiritual growth. This study guide will help us to see how Teresa grew in holiness in the marketplace as much as in the cloister, perhaps even more so. None of us has been called to found convents, but like Teresa all of us are called to practice virtue and grow in holiness within the fray of daily life.


About the Author


Marc Foley, OCD, is a Discalced Carmelite priest and member of the Washington Province (U.S.A.) of Discalced Carmelite friars. He is a longtime member and former chair of the Institute of Carmelite Studies. Currently he serves as publisher of ICS Publications and as director of formation at the Carmelite House of Studies located in Washington, D.C. A spiritual director and popular retreat master, Father Marc is the author of nine books, five of them with ICS Publications, on St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.