THE BOOK OF POEMS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY ... - TopReferat

suggests the reciprocity of the relationship. The two are always together, each with the
other, as if equal or even interchangeable.
This sense of equality and similarity clearly drew Gippius to Teresa. In her 1929
article "Любимая" she stresses their contemporaneity. 115
Not only the full period of
Teresa's life (1873-1897), but even her canonization (1925), usually a long drawn-out
process, falls fully within Gippius's lifetime. Thus, Gippius has indeed been present
throughout Teresa's physical and spiritual life. Gippius describes the great speed with
which Teresa was canonized, crediting not the Roman Catholic church, but the thousands
of devoted followers who already pray before her altars. Teresa lived only yesterday
(Она жила «вчера»)—the sisters of her convent, and her actual familial older sisters
have survived her and brought about her canonization.
According to Gippius, Teresa attracted such a loyal and immediate following
precisely because of her accessibility and contemporaneity: "они полюбили Терезу,
поверили ей,—и почувствовали ее своей; такой близкой, как будто равной, и в то
же время такой любимой Богом, что для нее Он все сделает. К Терезе же совсем
просто можно обращаться—к своей-то!" 116
While Gippius is describing Teresa's
immediate followers, the ones who brought about her canonization, clearly she includes
herself among them when claiming Teresa's kinship. She too can relate to Teresa simply
and directly, as someone both equal and especially loved by God—both near and distant.
115 While Gippius originally published this article in 1929, she returned to it at the time of the composition
of Сияния. She sent a copy to Gerell in a letter dated January 22, 1934 (just over two weeks after sending
her the letter about Teresa and Christmas), in order to explain further her love for Teresa. She also
indicated her plans to send a French translation of the article to Teresa's sister Pauline who, at the time, was
still the prioress of the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. Pachmuss, Intellect, 538.
116 Zinaida Gippius, "Liubimaia," Za svobodu!, no. 135 (26 May 1929), 3.
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