There are several publishing houses abroad that produce books for Russia. We will try to introduce them to you in detail. This time, we bring to your attention one of the latest books from the Brussels publishing house “Life with God,” an undisputed leader among similar publishers. For now, this book can only be obtained by sending an order directly to the publishing house, but our community also has a few copies. In the future, as we establish regular ties with foreign partners, we hope to receive a sufficient quantity of literature for distribution.

In its time, the Brussels publishing house released the collected works of Alexander Men, a classic of Christian literature, and now here is another book that has long been on the “Golden List” of spiritual literature—a book that has become a textbook and guide to one’s inner spiritual world for many. Now we have the opportunity to become acquainted with this masterpiece.

The book is written by a most popular Catholic saint, who is considered one of the greatest reformers of the Church. This is Teresa of Jesus, a nun of the Order of Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Teresa herself addresses this book to “her sisters and spiritual daughters, the discalced Carmelite nuns,” but many have read it and found it suitable for a wide readership. Why? Saint Teresa of Avila, together with her contemporary Saint John of the Cross (Juan de la Cruz), is usually mentioned among the most famous mystics of the Church, and their lives testify to the greatest grace of God and spiritual experience. The union of life and spiritual path in one book makes it a powerful tool in shaping our own spiritual life. This book resonates with any soul; it is called “The Interior Castle.” In it, Saint Teresa speaks of how our soul is usually underdeveloped; we imagine or believe that we have one, but what it is like, what to do with it, how to find in it “the room where the most important thing happens,” we do not know. This book is dedicated to the soul and its structure, but it is not a scientific work; rather, it is a prose poem; not a fairy tale, but an embodied reality, suffered through by Saint Teresa. In “The Interior Castle,” there are seven mansions, and Saint Teresa invites us on a journey through them, saying that the world around you may be whatever it is, but the most beautiful thing is your “interior castle.”

The book is excellently translated and seems as if it were written yesterday.

Saint Teresa of Avila “THE INTERIOR CASTLE” “Life with God.” Brussels, 1992.