Saint Theresa Of Avila
by
Mylea Pyle
April 18, 2011
Teresa De Cepeda Y Ahumada was born on March 28, 1515 in Gotarrendura, Spain. She was extroverted, affectionately buoyant, and skillful in the use of pen, needlework, and household chores. In 1522, when she was seven years old, she read about the martyrdom of the saints and convinced her brother Rodrigo (four years her elder) to come along with her to the country of the Moors. Hoping to beg their way for the love of God that they might be beheaded, they were stopped by their parents. Since the saint felt it was impossible to become a martyr at the time Teresa and Rodrigo set out to build hermitages by piling up small stones on top of each other. After some time the stones fell down and they soon gave up their intent to become hermits too.
God had given her in the stage of early youth the great devotion of prayer, especially the Rosary to which her mother had a great devotion. She would have great delight in playing with the other children and building of monasteries as if they were nuns. Teresa wished to be a nun though not so much a martyr or hermit. When the saint was a little less than twelve years of age. After the loss of her mother she went in a state of affliction to an image of Our Lady of Charity, and with many tears, implored her to be the saint’s mother. Teresa began to make much of dress to wish to please others by appearance. She took pains with her hands and hair, and used perfumes and all other vanities within reach. In 1531, she was taken by her father (who worried about her vanity) to the Augustinian monastery of Our Lady of Grace. For the first eight days she suffered excessively but more from the suspicion that her vanity was known than from being at the monastery. For the saint was very weary of herself and though she offended God, Teresa never ceased from fearing our great Lord and contrived to go to Confession instantly. She was very uncomfortable but much more accepting of the monastery compared to her father’s house. After a length of time the nuns became pleased with her, for our Lord had given her the talent of pleasing every human figure she approached. At the time, Teresa did not want to become a nun but she was exuberantly pleased with these good and holy Nuns who she thought very highly of. Like all good saints she was tempted by the devil but this did not stop her, for soon after she returned to the good and saintly deeds of her childhood.
There was one person with whom Teresa had a conversation who thought she would do well in the estate of holy matrimony. And it is said that she had a yearning for marriage at the time of her life. The saint lived in the monastery for a year and a half. She began to say many vocal prayers and to ask all the Nuns to pray for her so that she would go into a state wherein she was to serve God. At the end of her stay, Teresa had a greater inclination to be a nun, yet not in that house on account of certain devotional practices which the saint thought over-stressing. She also had a great friend, Juana Suarez, in another monastery. And this made her resolve if she was to be a nun, she would in the house where her friend lived.
In 1532 she returned home to regain her health and stayed with her sister. Reading the letters of Saint Jerome led her to the decision to enter a convent but her father refused to give her his consent. She decided to run away along with one of her brothers to receive her habit. On November 2nd she entered the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation at Avila and her father resigned himself to this development. The following year she received the habit and began wholeheartedly to give herself to prayer and penance. Shortly after her profession she became seriously ill and failed to respond to medical treatment. As a last resort her father took her to Becedas, a small village to seek the help of a woman healer famous throughout Castile. But her health did not improve. Leaving Becedas in the fall of 1538 she stayed in Hortigosa at the home of her uncle Pedro De Cepeda. Instead of regaining her health, Teresa grew even more ill and her father brought her back to Avila in July 1539. On August fifteenth she fell into a coma so profound that she was thought to be dead. After four days she revived, but her legs were paralyzed for three years.
After her cure, which she attributed to Saint Joseph, she entered a period of mediocrity in her spiritual life but she did not give up praying. During this stage, which lasted eighteen years, she had transitory mystical experiences. She was held back by a strong desire to be appreciated by others, but this finally left her in an experience of conversion in the presence of an image of “The Sorely Wounded Christ.” This conversion dislodged the egoism that hindered her spiritual development. Thus at the age of 39, she began to enjoy a vivid experience of God’s presence within her. When Teresa was 40 years old she began to have visionary experiences.
After several of these she started to think of a new monastery in which the original Carmelite ideal could be followed. She began to discuss her idea with others and at the instruction of her confessor, she began to write about her spiritual life and how it had led her to a goal of reform. In 1562 Teresa founded her first monastery, St. Joseph, In Avila. For the next 20 years she traveled throughout Spain, establishing foundations both for nuns and friars. As the monasteries got farther apart. Teresa began to write down the spiritual directions that she would have given orally if all of her Nuns were in one place. She wrote The Way Of Perfection in about 1566 to tell the nuns how to reach their goal. She wrote The Interior Castle by 1580 to tell them about contemplative prayer. She wrote foundations to remember the early history of their order. She also wrote meditations, prayers, hymns for her nuns, the Carmelite friars, and to the clerics and laity who were benefactors. She wrote thousands of letters of which there are over 450 extant. Because she was a visionary during the time of the inquisition, all of these writings were carefully read by others. The result was that, in her lifetime, her wok became well known far beyond the world of her monasteries.
Teresa greeted the end of her years of suffering with overflowing thanks. On the morning of the feast of Saint Francis, immersed in prayer, happy and smiling; she went out of this world into eternal life in the arms of our Lord.
Why I Chose Saint Teresa Of Avila For My Patron Saint?
I chose this great and holy saint for several reasons:
1. Her feast day is October 15 which is my birthday.
2. She uses words I would use.
3. I love her inspiring quotes. This one of my favorites:
“Accustom continually to make acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”
4. She is known as the Doctor of Prayer. She is a great example for deepening my prayer life.
5. She gives me a reason that there is hope for great sinners and that I can still become a saint and repent.
6. She shows such grace and reverence to our Lord which I want more than ever now.
7. I love her writings and I want to write like that; with such meaning and visibility.
Until next time this is Mylea (Spiritual Daughter)
Saying God Bless!
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