From the Editor’s Desk (Friday, 01/09/2015, Gaudium Press) Four works on mysticism, two of Saint Teresa of Jesus and two of Saint John of the Cross, were translated into Simplified Chinese and published in Taiwan. The books were published the Catholic publishing house Xinde, Shijiazhuang China, and is one of the projects carry out by the Carmelite Order in relation with the Fifth Centenary of the birth of St. Teresa of Avila, which occurs this year, in 2015.

The books came out in two editions and their titles are: “The Book of Her Life” and “The Way of Perfection” by St. Teresa of Avila, and “The Dark Night” and “Ascent of Mount Carmel” by St. John of the Cross; both are masterpieces of these Spanish saints, who were instrumental in the great reform of Carmel in the XVI century.

“The Book of Her Life” was indeed the first book she wrote. It is considered the most spontaneous work of this mystic and doctor of the Church, which most reflects her personality as well as her human and supernatural experience. It was written in 1562, but the text got lost, nevertheless the saint wrote it again in 1565. It is a biography in which she describes various events of her life, but also where she gives a report of her spiritual experiences and, above all, she teaches how to pray. On the other hand, “The Way of Perfection” is the spiritual guidelines given by St. Teresa to the sisters of the Monastery of St. Joseph of Avila, which later it became the spiritual guide book for the Congregation.

“The Dark Night” is the famous mystic poem of St. John of the Cross in which he shows his deep relationship with Jesus Christ, and in “Ascent of Mount Carmel” he combines verse and prose to express this mystical union of the soul with God.

The Committee of the Fifth Centenary and the “Universisdade da Mística ‘CITES'” sponsored this project, which had the support of Sister Clara Jiang, missionary of Bérriz.

Also as part of the celebrations for 500 years of the birth of St. Teresa, at the “Museo de la Feria” in Medina del Campo, Spain, the exhibition “Saint Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross: The Encounter “, takes place till Sunday 11 January. The excibit focuses of the protagonists of the Carmelite reform.(GPE / EPC)