M.Th. (Carmelite Studies)

Historiography is the critical study of history. This M.Th. module aims to provide a critical historiographic methodology for understanding the emergence and development of the Carmelite charism from its origins on Mount Carmel up until the 16th Century. The Carmelite Order as a mendicant order is unusual in not being able to point to a founder who advocated a specific spirituality. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• understand the role of historiography within the broader study of history;
• critically engage with the history of the Carmelite Order viewed from a historiographic perspective;
• reflect on changes within the Order up to and including the Reform of Pope Eugene IV in 1432;
• understand the situation of the Order before the arrival of St. Teresa of Avila.

The aim of this module is to introduce the learner to the role of Mary in the mystical tradition of Carmel and to the spirituality of Michael of St. Augustine and Maria Petyt, in particular. Based on biblical tradition and perhaps, because of the proximity of Mount Carmel to Nazareth, one of the original titles of the order was The Brothers of the Blessed Mary of Mount Carmel. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• develop an understanding of Marian mysticism in a Carmelite context;
• place Marian spirituality within Carmelite writing since the time of the Reformation;
• develop an understanding of the Marian mysticism of Michael of St. Augustine and Maria Petyt.

This module enables learners to engage in a more critical manner with the historical sources of the claim to an Elijan succession. It explores the relevant historical evidence, which does not support that claim, and the Order's gradual recognition that the historical foundation to such a claim is not easy to defend. This module plays an important role in clarifying the nature of the essential charism of the Carmelite Order and of its founders. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• demonstrate their familiarity with, and critical understanding of, the role of Elijah in Carmelite tradition;
• critically analyse the historical evidence concerning the likelihood of that claim from the perspective of the history of Mount Carmel;
• outline, and critically evaluate, the key writings concerning that claim;
• outline a critical overview of the modern significance of the Carmelite claim to an Elijan succession.

From the perspective of Carmelite Studies, we are nowadays accustomed to viewing St. John of the Cross from a mystical or theological perspective, however this has not always been the case. Up until the 20th Century St. John of the Cross was most often considered in terms of his contribution to Spanish literature, a field where he was often considered an equal of Cervantes. This module provides learners with the opportunity to see St. John’s work in its historical context and also how it has been understood at different times, before moving to a more detailed analysis of how his teaching is set out in his major works. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• understand the historical context of St. John’s life and work in 16th century Spain and how it has since been understood;
• understand key aspects of the Christian Mystical Tradition and to understand how these relate to St. John’s teaching;
• reflect on the relationship between St. John’s poetry and his explanation of that in his major works;
• demonstrate a critical understanding of the major prose writings of St. John.

This module enables learners to engage in a critical manner with a selection of St. Edith Steins writings. Facilitating the learners’ engagement with an English translation of her writings concerning her journey from Judaism, through atheism, to Christianity and Catholicism, and its significance for our time, concerning her writings on women, and on the Blessed Virgin Mary as the model for all female vocations, concerning her significant contribution to our understanding of the role that each human individual can play in the development, and flowering, of their own finite being, and concerning her prophetic understanding of her own ‘holocaust’ and her awareness of its links with the fate of her fellow Jews under the Nazis, this module also facilitates the learners in interpreting, in a critical manner, the controversy concerning her formal recognition as a martyr by the Church, and the opposition to that recognition by many Jews. By highlighting the multi-faceted nature of her writings, and their different contexts, this module encourages learners to recognise the gradual process of spiritual maturation that she experienced, and the multi-dimensional nature of her significance in the fields of anthropology, autobiography, pedagogy, philosophy, sociology, and spirituality. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• Demonstrate their familiarity with, and critical understanding of, the different kinds of writings of Edith Stein;
• Critically analyse key aspects of the literary, philosophical, sociological, and spiritual contexts in which she lived and their significance for interpreting her writings;
• Critically reflect on the relationship between Stein’s biographical context and her different writings;
• Outline a critical overview of Stein’s writings and their significance both in their own right and in relation to Carmelite Studies.

The work of St. Teresa of Avila is of course foundational both in terms of the establishment of the Discalced Carmel, but also in her setting out her understanding of the way of transformation in the two books that are studied in this module. Here The Life is the first book she wrote and The Interior Castle was her final work providing students with the opportunity to reflect on how her understanding had changed in the years between. These two books are of particular value in that in The Life St. Teresa uses her own life story as the context in which to define the process of transformation, whereas the Interior Castle revisits the process in its maturity. In these two books St. Teresa of Avila provides the student with a classic exposition of the mystical process using a language which is in many ways simpler to comprehend than the work of her contemporary John of the Cross providing thus a valuable comparator for anyone for anyone engaged in Carmelite studies or the wider study of Christian Spirituality. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• understand the cultural and historical context within which St. Teresa wrote these books in 16th Century Spain.
• locate her writing within the overall Christian mystical tradition.
• understand the different sections that St. Teresa sets out in The Life.
• understand how her understanding has developed by the time she writes The Interior Castle, in particular how St. Teresa now relates her teaching to the language of the mystical tradition.

The writings of St. Teresa of Avila are generally studied for their classic exposition of the Christian mystical process at an important time of change in the history of Christian Spirituality. Her saintly witness and the foundation of the Discalced Carmel are elsewhere well recorded however less is known of the personality of St. Teresa as the woman who undertook this major work. We are however fortunate to have access to 468 letters that have survived to the present day, letters which were written to many individuals on a wide range of subjects. The letters are less well known than her major works, however they do provide a rich resource that can help to better understand the personality of St. Teresa herself. This module seeks to bridge this gap by giving students the chance to become familiar with letters that cover a range of different issues disclosing some of the relationships that lay behind her reforming work. The content of the selected letters will provide an opportunity for the student to go behind the standard hagiography and form a deeper understanding of St. Teresa in her humanity. 

On completion of this module, learners will have:

• built up an overview of St. Teresa’s letters and their context;
• studied letters that provides a background to both her spirituality and her work as a foundress;
• studied letters that illustrate some contradictions that Teresa had to face in her work;
• gained a better understanding of the woman who will become the first female Doctor of the Church.

The module uses the life story and spirituality of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity to engage with and recover the language and thought of the pre-modern mystical tradition. The learner will take the life of St. Elizabeth, both her early family life and her life as a Carmelite as a way to explore the movement in her spiritual self-understanding. Being brought up in her traditionally Catholic family of origin during the openly atheistic French Third Republic, St. Elizabeth was a socially popular teenager and already an award winning pianist when she made the decision to leave all this behind and enter a strictly cloistered life. Within five years she was to suffer extreme pain and an early death from Addison’s disease. Her many letters, diaries, poems and reflections are all rich in theological content, providing the student with a rich resource for the interpretation of the process of her transformation, which is evaluated using the language of the Via Triplex, or Three Ways, a classic metaphor from the pre-modern Mystical Tradition. 

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• demonstrate their familiarity with, and critical understanding of, the various writings of St. Elizabeth;
• critically analyse key aspects of the Christian Mystical Tradition and their potential relationship with St. Elizabeth’s life;
• critically reflect on the relationship between St. Elizabeth's interpretations of key mystical writers, such as Jan van Ruusbroec on the one hand, and St. John of the Cross on the other;
• reflect on St. Elizabeth’s very personal reading of St. Paul.

There has at times been misunderstanding as to why the simplicity of St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s witness as recognised by her canonisation was further extended to make her a Doctor of the Church. This is an important issue to understand within the wider theological context but also within the field of Carmelite Studies where St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross have also previously been declared Doctors of the Church. The objective of this module is to enable learners to understand why St. Thérèse was recognised as a Doctor of the Church. To do this it will first look at St. Thérèse’s in her own context and then consider her witness in relation to wider issues of our own times.

On completion of this module, learners will be able to:

• demonstrate a general understanding of the term “Doctor of the Church” and a particular understanding of the various factors involved in applying that term to St. Thérèse;
• appreciate the way in which St. Thérèse’s life and spirituality were initially shaped by the culture of nineteenth century French Catholicism;
• understand why and how St. Thérèse transcended the limitations of her era and developed a Gospel-centred theology;
• comprehend and analyse some of the ways in which St. Thérèse’s Gospel-centred theological wisdom is relevant to the twenty-first century.

For learners who are new to the study of Christian Spirituality or Carmelite Studies this module sets out an overall introduction to the main stages of the development of Christian Spirituality from the very earliest times up to and including the postmodern era. The module also provides a brief parallel summary of what was happening in Carmelite Spirituality at each of these main stages. 

On completion of this module, learners will:

• have an overall understanding of the main stages of the historical development of Christian Spirituality;
• have a comparative understanding of the main events in Carmelite history at each of these main stages;
• understand the contemplative tradition within the wider scope of Christian Spirituality.

This module looks at some the main issues in Christian Spirituality that have been debated in recent years. In times of rapid change where there are now many ways of understanding spirituality, this module focuses on the current debates specific to Christian Spirituality.

On completion of this module, learners will have an understanding of:

• contemporary Christian Spirituality in relation to historical context;
• different approaches to Christian Spirituality;
• current debates in Christian Spirituality;
• the challenges Christian Spirituality faces in a postmodern context.