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John of Avila: Audi, filia-Listen, O Daughter. Translated and introduced by Joan Frances Gormley. Foreword by Francisco Javier Martínez Fernández. [The Classics of Western Spirituatlity.] (Mahwali, New Jersey: Paulist Press. 2006. Pp. xiv, 329. $27.95 paperback.)
In 1574, the followers of the renowned Spanish priest and writer John of Avila (1499-1569) published his most famous work, Audi, filia. Avila derived the title of this treatise from Psalm 45:11-12, an ode to a royal wedding: "Listen, O daughter, and see; incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house. And the King will desire your beauty." Through 113 chapters, Avila offered a figurative interpretation of this passage, addressing issues such as the value of prayer, the role of faith and works in salvation, and the nature of sin. The theological arguments of this work reflected his lifetime of experience in early modern Spain. The initial inspiration for Audi, filia arose from Avila's patronage of a growing circle of disciples, when one of his female followers requested guidance in meditation. Avila began writing the book in the prison cells of the Inquisition, and the first, unauthorized edition of the work appeared on the inquisitorial Index of 1559. Despite his failing liealthAvila carried out the necessary revisions for the approved edition...