Two Contemporary Spanish Mystics: Teresa of Avila and Ignatius Loyola
by:
(Rev.) Dr. Mark DeStephano, S.J.
when:
Sunday, September 23, 2012 - 14:00 to 15:15
This session will consider how St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) and St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) – perhaps the two most influential figures of the Counter-Reformation – serve as models for the spiritual transformation of our multiculturally-rich and diverse world. Through her celebrated work La Vida (The Life), Teresa describes the path along which she learned to laugh at her faults while at the same time finding the loving hand of a God who was a constant and patient teacher. Likewise, in his Ejercicios Espirituales (Spiritual Exercises) and his Autobiografía (Autobiography), Ignatius discusses the process through which God dashed his worldly hopes, but filled him with spiritual desires that would lead to inner peace as well as to the foundation of one of the world’s greatest religious and educational institutions: the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Blessed abundantly with mystical experiences, both saints teach us that God’s call is universal, and embraces all peoples of the world, no matter what their race, language, faith, or occupation. What is more, God’s call is practical, leading us to find Him in all things and in all circumstances. Our session will ask, “How do you find God in all things?”
Father Mark DeStephano, a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus since 1976, was ordained a priest in 1988. A native of Palisades Park, New Jersey, U.S.A., Father DeStephano was awarded his bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Spanish from Fordham University. As part of his Jesuit formation, he earned four degrees in Theology at the University of Toronto: Bachelor of Sacred Theology, Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology. Following studies in Theology, Father DeStephano continued his graduate education at Harvard University, where he was awarded his master's and doctoral degrees in Romance Languages and Literatures, with specialization in Medieval and Golden-Age Spanish Literature. Father DeStephano has taught full or part-time for more than thirty years in over fifteen high schools, colleges, and universities throughout the world. Currently, he is Chairman and Professor of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, and Director of the Asian Studies Program at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.A.