NO BODY BUT YOURS

Phil
Oct 13
3 min read

SAINT TERESA OF ÁVILA - FEAST DAY, OCTOBER 15th It's hard to pick a favourite saint. After all, I need as much help as I can get, so I'm happy to include any saint that's on offer!

But - St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-82) will always have a special place in my heart, not least of all for her outspoken and honest relationship with God. Teresa was of small stature but feisty! on contemporary writer referred to her as "The diminutive Spanish spitfire"!

Teresa was born in Avila, Spain, during tumultuous times. She had to deal with the Spanish Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and a culture in which the theological opinions of women were thought to be absolutely worthless. Very early, she began to feel an attraction to the religious life, but her father was unwilling to allow her to enter the convent. However, Teresa followed her own yearnings, and at age 20, she ran away from home and entered the Carmelite Monastery in Ávila. Later her father begrudgingly gave his blessing, so she could be openly enthusiastic about her new life.

But her troubles were not behind her. At age 23, she fell severely ill—with no discernible cause. She was forced to leave the cloister to undergo experimental and drastic treatments, which almost killed her. One can only imagine what "experimental" might have meant in the 1500s!! Though she survived the ordeal, she suffered the rest of her life from complications of that experience.

Teresa - as a small girl she received visions which astounded her family and friends.

She also experienced ups and downs in her spiritual life, largely as a result of feelings of guilt. Aged 39, however, she experienced a transformation that gave her a new kind of freedom in Christ and a new outlook on life.

One day, during a fierce rainstorm, Teresa, whilst making her way to her convent slipped down an embankment and fell in the mud. She was covered! The irrepressible nun looked up to heaven and admonished her Maker, exclaiming "IF THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS, NO WONDER YOU HAVE SO FEW OF THEM!"

Though a mystic, she went on to lead an extremely active life as a teacher, reformer in the Catholic Church, poet, and author. Her most famous work, The Interior Castle, came to her in a vision in 1577. She “saw” a magnificent crystal globe like a castle in which there were seven dwelling places. In the seventh, in the centre, was the King of Glory. This seventh room, one of complete union with God, is expressed in language reminiscent of the Song of Songs, in which the relationship is likened to spiritual marriage.

St. Teresa's descriptions of contemplative prayer and its effect upon the soul are unparalleled. She writes with joyous abandon and humorous, self-deprecating humility, and her writings are accessible to all. She said -

"It was was my desire that since the Lord has many enemies,

and so few friends, that his few friends should be good ones…”

She knew great physical suffering and died of exhaustion on 4^th October 1582. Her feast is on 15 October because the very day after her death the reformed calendar was adopted, and eleven days were omitted from October that year.