Teresa of Ávila
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Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515 -1582) was a major figure of the Catholic Reformation as a prominent Spanish mystic and writer and as a monastic reformer. She was born at Ávila (85 km northwest of Madrid). She is recognized by Roman Catholics as one of the thirty-three Doctors of the Church. She is one of only three female Doctors of the Church, along with St. Catherine of Siena, made so in 1970 and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, made so in 1997. At age 21, against her father's wishes, she professed vows as a Carmelite at the Spanish Convent of the Incarnation in Avila. Still, according to her own account, she waffled spiritually. The convent was known for its leniency, for example, permitting relationships with those outside the convent and allowing worldly possessions within. Teresa, enjoying the convent's indulgences, waned in her devotion. Then a serious, prolonged illness (and partial paralysis from an attempted cure) forced her to spend three years in relative quiet, during which time she read books on the spiritual life. When she recovered and returned to the convent she resumed what to her later seemed only a half-hearted spirituality. Of these years, she wrote in her Autobiography, "I voyaged on this tempestuous sea for almost 20 years with these fallings and risings.”
Key Moment: Then one day while walking down a hallway in the convent, her glance fell on a statue of the wounded Christ, and the vision of his constant love throughout her inconstancy pierced her heart. Gently but powerfully, she said Jesus began to break down her defenses and reveal to her the cause of her spiritual exhaustion: her dalliance with the delights of sin. She immediately broke with her past, undergoing a final conversion. But unlike her partner in reform, John of the Cross, Teresa's understanding of disengagement is not ascetic. On the contrary, for Teresa true suffering comes from being in the world and serving others. Spiritual progress is measured neither by self-imposed penance nor by the sweetest pleasures of mystical experiences but by growth in constant love for others and an increasing desire within for the will of God. |
Quotes
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“Oh God, I don’t love you, I don’t even want to love you, but I want to want to love you.”
-Teresa of Avila “May it please the Beloved that we never fail to love each other, because if we do we are lost “ -Teresa of Avila “It is certain that the love of God does not consist in experiencing sweetness or tenderness of heart but in truly serving God in justice, strength and humility.” -Teresa of Avila “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God, you will want for nothing. God alone suffices.” -Teresa of Avila “Prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.” -Teresa of Avila "Whoever has not begun the practice of prayer, I beg for the love of the Lord not to go without so great a good. There is nothing here to fear but only something to desire.” -Teresa of Avila “Humility is the ointment for our wounds.” -Teresa of Avila “My God, if You desire to enter my soul to find Your delight in it and to shower it with blessings, there is only one things necessary: the soul must be simple, pure, desirous of receiving You. But if, instead of clearing the way, we place many obstacles in it, how can You enter? How do we expect You to give us Your graces?” -Teresa of Avila “It is true that we cannot be free from sin, but at least let our sins not be always the same.” -Teresa of Avila "Suffering is a dreadful teacher but often the beginning of the best in us. Suffering and creativity are often interdependent. Pain produces a terrible tension released in our creative response. Suffering can be like a grain of sand in an oyster: it can create a magnificent pearl." -Teresa of Avila “I have said it before and I will say in many, many times, for fear seriously constrains people who do not wholly understand God’s goodness by personal experience, although they know if by faith.” -Teresa of Avila Way of Perfection “Christ has no body but yours; no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which walks to do good. Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. -Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) “It is amusing to see souls who, while they are at prayer, fancy they are willing to be despised and publicly insulted for the love of God, yet afterwards do all they can to hide their small defects. If anyone unjustly accuses them of a fault, God deliver us from their outcries! Prayer does not consist of such fancies. No, our Lord expects works from us. Beg our Lord to grant you perfect love for your neighbor. If someone else is well spoken of, be more pleased than if it were yourself; this is easy enough, for if you were really humble, it would vex you to be praised...Comply in all things with others’ wishes although you lose your own rights. Forget your self-interests for theirs, however much nature may rebel.” -Teresa of Ávila Once when praying about her many trials and sufferings, she thought she heard God say, "But this is how I treat my friends." Teresa replied, "No wonder you have so few friends." |
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Public Domain Image.
Image has been cropped. |
