Saint Teresa of Avila – Saint Teresa of Jesus

Saint Teresa of Ávila – Saint Teresa of Jesus

Born: March 28, 1515 in Ávila, Crown of Castile (today Spain)

Died: October 4, 1582 (age 67) in Alba de Tormes, Spain

Beatified: April 24, 1614 by Pope Paul V

Canonized: March 12, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV

Feast day: October 15

Attributes: contemplative, mystic, ecstatic, writer on mental prayer, religious reformer, administrator, prolific correspondent

Patronage: Spain, sick people, people in religious orders, people ridiculed for their piety, lacemakers

Carmelite nun Saint Teresa of Ávila was born on March 28, 1515 as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada in in Ávila, Crown of Castile (today Spain). She is also known as Saint Teresa of Jesus.

Teresa was a religious reformer, author and mystic who was known for her theological concepts concerning a contemplative life and mental prayer.

Her written works are fundamental components of literature written during the Spanish Renaissance. They include an autobiography, “The Life of Teresa of Jesus,” “The Interior Castle,” and “The Way of Perfection” form a basis for Christian mysticism and meditation.

Saint Teresa was born into a family of nobility but chose to live a religious life in a monastery. She lived during a time when the Spanish Inquisition was asserting discipline over the Church and the Protestant Reformation was growing rapidly throughout Europe.

She worked to reform what she saw as a laxness in the Carmelite orders of women and men. Her reforms of the order led to the formation of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, approved by papal decree in 1580.

Teresa, who had visions of Jesus and Mary and stressed the importance of holy water, was joined in many of her reform projects by fellow Spanish Carmelite, John of the Cross. And one of her followers, a French Carmelite nun, took Teresa’s first name for her religious name – Terese of Lisieux.

Saint Teresa of Jesus died on October 4, 1582 at the age of 67. She was beatified on April 24, 1614 by Pope Paul V and canonized on March 12, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. Saint Teresa is one of the patron saints of Spain.

On September 27, 1970 she received the honor of becoming the first female Doctor of the Church, bestowed by Pope Paul VI to recognize her ongoing legacy of spirituality and Catholicism.

A poem by Saint Teresa of Jesus

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.

— The bookmark of Teresa of Ávila