Gutton, Philippe

The Mystical Paradox - 2008.


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The mystical evolution of St. Theresa of Lisieux is examined using a model of the state of illusion (according to Winnicott’s approach). This evolution, defined by its paradoxical quality–“Me, Non-Me,” “Living-Dying”–is weakened under the threat of a paradoxical injunction. Throughout her childhood, this threat was made by what Theresa called “her mothers” after the death of her mother. This turbulent childhood revealed itself as a mystique when during adolescence her tutors of illusion crystallized into “mother-Jesus.” She called it “Conversion,” a transference later consolidated by her vocation as a Carmelite and her doctrine.