St. Teresa of Avila, My Beloved Companion

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Avila. This holy woman is a mystic, a Saint, a Doctor of the Church, and my beloved companion in the journey to the center of the interior castle, to the center of my soul. She guides me, inspires me, and lovingly challenges me to live my holiness. My son and I had the opportunity to go to Avila, Spain last year. We walked the streets of Avila, walked atop its impressive wall, sat in Teresa's room when she was a child, saw her garden, and visited the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarantion.

I was overcome with joy and honor, to walk where Teresa had walked. To see the statue of the suffering Jesus that so inspired her, to see her cell, and to see the painting of the well that inspired her garden and well analogy. I love Teresa's companionship. She helps me to embrace my desire for solitude and contemplation and with God's grace to slowly move through the seven rooms to the center of the interior castle, where I will then meet with the God that lives within. "... the soul of the just person is nothing else but a paradise where the Lord says He finds His delight."

She helps me live life with joy and humor, to not take myself so seriously. There are many stories of this nun, who entered the convent wearing a bright red dress, encouraging fun. She would dance and play castanets, the sisters would play instruments, she was witty, and enjoyed good stories. "God, deliver us from sullen saints."

She also encourages me to grow in the virtue of humility. To be conscious that all that I am, that all my abundance, all the gifts, all the blessings in my life are a gift of God. Therefore, with God's grace I will be able to fully live His will. She is also an inspiration in courage. She faced law suits and barriers in her reformation, she faced the difficulties of serious illnesses, she faced ridicule and anger, but nothing could get in the way of her hunger to serve God. "... let us desire and be occupied in prayer not for the sake of our enjoyment but so as to have this strength to serve...:

Finally, "Santa Teresa" helps me understand how to balance the contemplative and simple life with the value of practical work and social interactions. She definitely loved her intimate meditation and conversations with her beloved Jesus and the simplicity of a convent life that relied on manual work and Divine Providence. Yet, she balanced that with the practical negotiations and "worldly concerns" involved in buying and founding convents, as well as in taking the time for conversation. She valued conversations that "disclosed the movements of the soul..." not unlike many of the threads in St. Blogs...

Thank you Lord, for the continued blessing of St. Teresa of Jesus. Flos Carmeli discusses the combination of St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross. Blog by the Sea has lots of information on St. Teresa and on Avila.

Technorati Tags: Carmel, Catholic, Saints, St. Teresa of Jesus

Comments

[twyla]

I'm fascinated by your descriptions of this saint. Could you recommend a book I could read to learn of her and maybe something she wrote? Thanks, Hector. You and Romy are my guides in exploring Catholicism.

[~m2~]

oh, i adore st. teresa of avila - she was quite spunky :)

[Lorna]

GREAT post ... many of us (from across the denominational fence) admire and have a lot of respect for this woman of God.

Your post made me want to visit Avila too.

One thing - what was it that you liked about my post over at Penni's.. was it the bit that said I'd said too much / my comment was quite long enough already :)

be blessed

[Hector]

Twyla, Penni, and Lorna, thanks for your comments. I'm glad that you share with me the love and admmiration for this wonderful and holy woman.

Twyla, some books by her: The Interior Castle, The Way of Perferction, The Letters of St. Teresa of Jesus, The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus. To me she is a well organized and easy to follow writer. I started to read her works in Spanish, but I had to switch to English as she was using a very old style of Spanish.

Lorna, regarding the survey at Penni's I thought it was funny that by answering from your heart the survey tool said, "aha! you have been affected by Protestanism in some way..."

[Steve Bogner]

Twyla - I highly recommend her book Interior Castle, translated by Mirabai Starr. It's a more modern English translation, and St Teresa's writing really spoke to me via that book.

I think sometimes we forget that St Teresa of Avila, like many popular saints, was controversial in her day. A deep relationship with God may led us to do some great things; things that upset the status quo.

[twyla]

Thanks, Hector. I'll pick that up, I'm looking forward to it.

And I have noticed the controversial nature displayed by deeply spiritual folks. (like Christ!)