BIOGRAPHY OF SAINT TERESA OF AVILA

             Saint Teresa of Avila

Also known as

• Teresa de Avila
• Teresa of Jesus
• Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada
• The Roving Nun
• Theresa of Avila

Memorial

• 15 October
• 27 August (Transverberation of her Heart)

Profile

Born to the Spanish nobility, the daughter of Don Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda and Doña Beatriz. She grew up reading the lives of the saints, and playing at “hermit” in the garden. Crippled by disease in her youth, which led to her being well educated at home, she was cured after prayer to Saint Joseph. Her mother died when Teresa was 12, and she prayed to Our Lady to be her replacement. Her father opposed her entry to religious life, so she left home without telling anyone, and entered a Carmelite house at 17. Seeing her conviction to her call, her father and family consented.

Soon after taking her vows, Teresa became gravely ill, and her condition was aggravated by the inadequate medical help she received; she never fully recovered her health. She began receiving visions, and was examined by Dominicans and Jesuits, including Saint Francis Borgia, who pronounced the visions to be holy and true.

She considered her original house too lax in its rule, so she founded a reformed convent of Saint John of Avila. Teresa founded several houses, often against fierce opposition from local authorities. Mystical writer. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 27 September 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

Born

• 28 March 1515 at Avila, Castile, Spain as Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada

Died

• 4 October 1582 at Alba de Tormes of natural causes in the arms of her secretary and close friend Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew
• body incorrupt
• relics preserved at Alba
• her heart shows signs of Transverberation (piercing of the heart) and is displayed, too

Beatified

• 24 April 1614 by Pope Paul V

Canonized

• 12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV

Patronage

• against bodily ills
• against headaches
• against sickness
• against the death of parents
• lace-makers
• lace workers
• people in need of grace
• people in religious orders
• people ridiculed for their piety
• sick people
• World Youth Day 2011
• Amos, Canada, diocese of
• Avellaneda–Lanús, Argentina, diocese of
• Berzano di Tortona, Italy
• Pozega, Croatia
• Spain
• Avila, Spain
• Readings

• God, deliver me from sullen saints. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  Know that even when you are in the kitchen, our Lord moves amidst the pots and pans. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  Oh my Lord! How true it is that whoever works for you is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love you if we understand its value. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God’s. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  We need no wings to go in search of Him, but have only to look upon Him present within us. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  You ought to make every effort to free yourselves even from venial sin, and to do what is most perfect. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in “wedding garments.” Amen. – Saint Teresa of Avila

  If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that is we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favors, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For is at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort. – Saint Teresa of Avila