On November 6, an Academic workshop in honor of St. Teresa of Jesus, took place in the classroom Magna of the Ecclesiastical Building of the Schools , on the occasion of the celebration of the V Centenary of her birth. It was organized by the Carmelites of the Province of San Joaquín de Navarra and the and the School of Theology of the University.

The workshop, of a markedly interdisciplinary nature, was attended by experts in Carmelite Theology and the literature of the Golden Century: not in vain the saint of Avila is the patron saint of writers in Spanish language . 

The four conferences that made up the workshop were opened by Fr. Ildefonso MorionesIldefonso Moriones, OCD, who spoke of "The holy freedom in the Teresian magisterium. He explained how St. Teresa said that his reforms "are not novelties, but forgotten truths". And he devoted his discussion paper to reel off three major areas in which the Holy especially affected his nuns: prayer life, confessors and corporal penance.

For his part, Juan Manuel Escuderofrom group of research Siglo de Oro (GRISO), University of Navarra, traced the panorama of literary production with the lecture "Santa Teresa: literature, symbol and religion". He explained how mystical literature acted as a hinge between writing and the relationship with God. "St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross are two Carmelite giants; in their writings there is a fusion between the spiritual life and the life of action," he said. Professor Escudero defined St. Teresa as one of the unquestionable bastions of mystical literature, of extreme sensitivity, coated with a manly temper, passionate and enthusiastic. It was transported to the highest peaks of spirituality, but did not lose the contact with reality.

The GRISO's researcher described the works of St. Teresa: those of an experiential or biographical nature, such as the Book of Life, the Foundations and the Book of Accounts of Conscience; the two major books: The Way of Perfection and The Lives, as well as the Commentary on the Song of Songs, The Spiritual Challenge and her poetic works.

Based on a recommendation from St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Professor Javier Sesé stressed the advisability, when studying St. Teresa of Jesus and other great masters of spirituality, not to dwell on secondary aspects, such as "seraphic holiness" (visions, ecstasies and extraordinary phenomena), but on the most essential and common aspects of "supreme perfection". This is basically what the saintly doctor does, even when she analyzes the most extraordinary experiences of her life: she does everything in the light of the love of God, which is the essence of all holiness, without diminishing its greatness; and she invites us all to follow the path of prayer and virtues that leads to true intimacy with God.

The workshop was closed by the intervention of the professor of the Pontificia Facoltà Teologica "Teresianum"Ciro Garcia, OCD, with the discussion paper: "The experience of God in the Book of Life of Teresa of Jesus". He said it is the work "that best identifies and best presents St. Teresa. It is a living book, pioneering and enormously revealing". It marks the beginning of modern subjectivity and the response that St. Teresa gives to this problem.  

"Written with the will of reservation and anonymity, it is the book among the books of spirituality of all times; its timeliness never ends. Today it is much more current than ever," said Father Ciro Garcia. "He speaks as he writes and writes as he speaks. It has a revealing value. He transmits experience, like all mystics. The book of Life is a travel map of an old explorer of virgin forests with plans, notes, warnings, that aspires to take the reader to where she herself has arrived", he concluded.