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Distributed for Iter Press

Journeys of a Mystic Soul in Poetry and Prose

Edited and Translated by Kevin Donnelly and Sandra Sider
This edition, which offers a bilingual selection of poetry and selected prose translated into English by the nun-author Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570–1646), increases contemporary scholars’ access to, and therefore understanding of, the Spanish early modern religious and intellectual milieu. A significant, rarely-studied mystic and poet, and member of the Discalced Carmelite Order in the years after St. Teresa of Avila’s death, Cecilia del Nacimiento exemplifies the range of possibilities used by women writers who worked within the conventions of hegemonic discourses, while creating a unique literary voice.
—Stacey Schlau
Professor, Department of Languages and Culture and the Women’s Studies Program
West Chester University, Pennsylvania

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Reviews

"This edition, which offers a bilingual selection of poetry and selected prose by the nun-author Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570–1646), translated into English increases contemporary scholars’ access to, and therefore understanding of, the Spanish early modern religious and intellectual milieu. A significant, rarely-studied mystic and poet, and member of the Discalced Carmelite Order in the years after St. Teresa of Avila’s death, Cecilia del Nacimiento exemplifies the range of possibilities used by women writers who worked within the conventions of hegemonic discourses, while creating a unique literary voice."
 

Stacey Schlau, West Chester University, Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Translations
Prose Texts
Treatise on the Transformation of the Soul in God (1603) 33
Treatise on the Union of the Soul in God (c. 1602) 109
First Account of God’s Favors (1629) 129
Second Account of God’s Favors (1633) 153
Glosses on the Song of Songs 165
Theological Exposition on the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin 187
“Treatise on the Mysteries of our Holy Faith” (1632) 193
Letters to her Sister Maria and to her Brothers Antonio and Juan 235
Poetry
Poems of Cecilia del Nacimiento (Spanish and English) 251
Bibliography 523
Title Index of the Poetry 529
Index 533

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