Audi, filia

In recent decades, there has been a clear resurgence of interest in the figure of Saint John of Avila (Almodóvar del Campo, 1499–Montilla, 1569), most notably marked by his canonization by Paul VI in 1970 and his designation as a Doctor of the Church by Benedict XVI in 2012. While numerous studies and defenses of his work have since appeared, the publication of what might be considered his magnum opus—the beautiful *Audi, filia* (1556), based on a commentary on Psalm 45—had been deferred until now. This edition seeks to remedy that omission by presenting a critical text of the original draft; although that version had all but vanished and was heavily discredited after being placed on the Spanish Inquisition’s *Index of Prohibited Books* in 1559, it remains far more faithful to the author’s ideas and precepts than the censored versions that circulated after his death. It is a fundamental work for understanding the thought and faith of an essential voice in Spanish Renaissance Christian theology, as well as a key influence on such prominent figures as Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Teresa of Jesus.