The Eagle and the Dove

The two saints whose lives Vita Sackville-West contrasts in this double biography were recorded by very different epithets: 'the great' and 'the little'. Both women were Carmelites both canonised and both shared the same name. But whilst Teresa of Avila was aristocratic intellectual vigorous and humorous a Spanish woman of the sixteenth century Th r se of Lisieux was a guileless and sentimental figure of the French bourgeoisie. Teresa the great mystic is the patron saint of Spain; Th r se the humble nun is probably the most beloved saint in the entire Calendar. The extraordinary rise of the cult of both women is scrutinised.