One of the outstanding Carmelite authors of today has now written on the vision and aspirations of the great foundress of her order,St Teresa of Avila. The key to that vision was passion - not some state of heightened religious emotion, but an all-engrossing preoccupation with God. But, as Ruth Burrows points out, what all too often happens in practice is that the day-to-day lifestyle becomes adapted to non-passion: she argues, passionately, that faithful observance - the horarium, the 'detachment from created things' obedience, the relationship between sisters - provides an almost perfect sit