Preface

Abstract

Extract In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God.—John 1 (Rev, Std. Bible) By the early modern period hundreds of women wrote about their experience of the divine in Italy, France, Spain, and Spanish America. In the Spanish-speaking world in particular, in the wake of the famous mystic author Saint Teresa of Avila (1515–1582), hundreds of religious women were asked by their spiritual directors to write about their lives. They spoke of visionary experience of God rather than book knowledge. Spiritual directors mixed sincere concern for the salvation of their “spiritual daughters'” souls with a desire to create new texts aimed at inspiring Christian readers. The use of the written word to further the Word of God is as ancient as literacy and religion. Beginning in the fourth century with the compilation and canonization of certain texts to create the Bible, the Roman Catholic Church privileged the written word as the physical locus of God's presence and will and the one “true Book.” Within a few centuries, a new narrative tradition—the lives of the saints—was promoted to instruct Christian communities. Written records made of saints' life stories formed a narrative tradition that was intended to inspire emulation by listeners and readers. Over time, Christianity equated not only the Bible but also the narrative lives of the saints with the Word of God. The most popular collection of saints' lives in the Spanish-speaking world notes: “The saints' lives are a sure declaration of Holy Scripture.”✫