Anna of St. Bartholomew, Autobiography

Mother Anna of St. Bartholomew,  this strong and beautiful soul,  was St. Teresa's close companion during her later and most eventful years; indeed, so close to her in body and soul as to be a perfectly competent witness of not only all outward happenings, but also of many of her visions and revelations.  Her narrative leads us to the fragrant borders of the Saint's paradise; this is Sister Anne's most precious gift. She was not an hour absent from the Holy Mother during six almost trag­ical months between the end of the Saint's Burgos foundation in the early Spring of 1582 and the seraphic end of her life the fol­lowing October. Hence it is not too much to claim for this book that it is a necessary complement to St. Teresa's published writ­ings; this is peculiarly true of her autobiography, which Sister Anne extends and completes to the Saint's expiring breath. Besides this unique excellence, the volume is a minute study at close hand of the holiness of Anne herself, who, simple lay-Sister though she was, was one of the best examples of the Saint's train­ing.