Saint Teresa of Ávila, O.C.D.

Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada (28 March 1515 – 4 October 1582), was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, an author of the Counter Reformation and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered to be a founder of the Discalced Carmelites along with John of the Cross.

In 1622, forty years after her death, she was canonized by Pope Gregory XV and on 27 September 1970, was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI. Her books, which include her autobiography (The Life of Teresa of Jesus) and her seminal work El Castillo Interior (trans.: The Interior Castle) are an integral part of Spanish Renaissance literature as well as Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practices as she entails in her other important work, Camino de Perfeccion.

Early life

Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born in 1515 in Gotarrendura, in the province of Ávila, Spain. Her paternal grandfather, Juanito de Hernandez, was a marrano (Jewish convert to Christianity) and was condemned by the Spanish Inquisition for allegedly returning to the Jewish faith. Her father, Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda, bought a knighthood and successfully assimilated into Christian society. Teresa's mother, Beatriz de Ahumada y Cuevas, was especially keen to raise her daughter as a pious Christian. Teresa was fascinated by accounts of the lives of the saints, and ran away from home at age seven with her brother Rodrigo to find martyrdom among the Moors. Her uncle stopped them as he was returning to the town, having spotted the two outside the town walls.

When Teresa was 14 her mother died, causing the girl a profound grief that prompted her to embrace a deeper devotion to the Virgin Mary as her spiritual mother. Along with this good resolution, however, she also developed immoderate interests in reading popular fiction (consisting, at that time, mostly of medieval tales of knighthood) and caring for her own appearance. Teresa was sent for her education to the Augustinian nuns at Ávila. . . . Continued

Teresa Sánchez Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada, Santa Teresa de Jesús

• Teresa Sánchez Cepeda Dávila y Ahumada, Santa Teresa de Jesús; n. Avila, Castilla la Vieja, 28 marzo 1515, b. Parroquia San Juan, Gotarrendura, Avila, España, 03 abril 1515, + Alba de Tormes 04 octubre 1582; su madre fallece cuando tiene 14 años de edad y fue criada por su padre; a los 18 años de edad ingresa al convento de las Agustinas de Gracia, tomando los hábitos carmelitas en 1536; una experiencia profunda le hará tomar un giro definitivo en su vida, al caer en coma durante cuatro días y ser desahuciada por los médicos; amortajada, despierta delirando y pronosticando su futuro, curación que ella misma atribuirá a san José; a partir de entonces y durante los 20 años siguientes manifiesta repetidas veces estar en contacto con Dios y tener visiones, como la del infierno, que le empujan a observar estrictamente la ortodoxia de su regla; en 1562 funda en Ávila su primer convento reformado, en el que pretende restablecer y restaurar la entonces relajada regla carmelitana de 1247, postulando la oración y la contemplación como pilares básicos de la fe; llega a fundar 17 conventos reformados, labor en la que es apoyada por san Juan de la Cruz; en 1582, desplazada a Alba de Tormes por requerimiento de la duquesa de Alba, fallece el 15 de octubre; las crónicas devocionales le atribuyen virtudes de santidad, como el olor perfumado de su cadáver o la incorruptibilidad de su cuerpo, tras un año de enterramiento; se distinguió por lo elevado de su pensamiento y por la belleza literaria de sus escritos, como "Camino de perfección" o "Las moradas", entre otros; beatificada 1614 por Paulo V; canonizada 1622 por Gregorio XV; su fiesta es el 15 de octubre; declarada Doctora de la Iglesia.

Notes

• Co-fondatrice de l'Ordre des Carmes déchaux.
• Thérès d'Ávila est la patronne sainte de la paroisse de Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville, Québec, Canada.

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Prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun and author during the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer. She was a reformer in the Carmelite Order of her time and the movement she initiated, later joined by Saint John of the Cross, eventually led to the establishment of the Discalced Carmelites, though neither she nor John were alive when the two orders separated

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila