St Teresa of Avila
St Teresa of Avila: Feast Day, October 15th
Have you ever felt like the space around you is too loud, too busy and no matter how hard you try you just can't manage to concentrate and think? If you have you will understand how Teresa of Avila was feeling.
St. Teresa was born over 500 years ago in Avila, Spain. Although she lived a long time ago, she is still considered to be one of the greatest ever saints and sets a wonderful example for us to follow and learn from.
Teresa was from a rich family. As a teenager, she was very much like the other girls of her age. She spent time with her friends and loved fashion and perfume. It was not until she fell ill in her late teens that Teresa began to think of what she wanted in life. She read a book by St. Jerome and it moved her so much that she set her heart on becoming a nun. This meant agreeing never to marry and instead dedicate her life to Jesus in prayer and serving others. At first, her father didn’t want to let her go, but after much persuasion from Teresa, he agreed to allow her to join the Carmelite nuns of the Incarnation in Avila.
Throughout her twenties and thirties Teresa lived in the convent there. She was well known for her kindness, charm, generosity and fun-loving character. However, there was something bothering Teresa throughout this time. The convent was often crowded and noisy. The nuns were allowed to invite their friends from outside to come and stay whenever they pleased. There were often great dinner parties with fine food and nuns would leave the convent for long periods to travel and spend time at home with their families. Although this meant that her life was comfortable, deep down Teresa knew that this wasn’t the reason she had joined the Carmelites. What she longed for most of all was to grow in her love and friendship with Jesus. Although she loved the other nuns, she knew that to hear Jesus's voice more clearly she had to find space on her own where she could be still and quiet.
In her heart, Teresa felt Jesus calling her to seek a simpler way of living, one without the many distractions that came with her current life. Although it made many of the other nuns angry, Teresa decided to leave the Carmelites of the Incarnation and create her own community of nuns. Along with 13 others, Teresa formed the house of St. Joseph at Avila.
Teresa made sure that life at the new house was different for her and the nuns who chose to join her. They wore plain brown outfits, ate simple food and spent much of their time alone either praying or working. Teresa took her turn at all of the household tasks, sweeping, cleaning and spinning cloth. She was happy though. At last she had lots of time to be alone and pray. She could spend hours talking to Jesus in her quiet room. Finally she had a place where there were no distractions.
From then on Teresa made it her mission to copy what she had done in Avila and form many other houses. She wrote books to spread her ideas about the importance of quiet prayer from the heart and the need for a simple life. Her writings have been so helpful for people over the years that she was named a doctor of the church, the first female saint to ever be given that special title.
Perhaps later today you could follow St. Teresa of Avila's example. Find a quiet place on your own, turn off any electronics or other distractions and close your eyes. Spend some time talking to Jesus about your day and tell him about anything or anyone in your heart. At first you might find this a little strange, but soon, like St. Teresa of Avila, you too will find that it is much easier to feel close to Jesus when all other distractions are taken away.
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us.