Saint+Teresa+of+Ávila

media type="file" key="israel-saint teresa.mp3"[|israel-saint teresa.mp3]
 * Early Life.** In 1528, when Teresa was 15, her mother died, leaving behind 10 children. Teresa was the "most beloved of them all." She was of medium height, large rather than small, and generally well proportioned. In her youth she had the reputation of being quite beautiful, and she retained her fine appearance until her last years (Maria de S. Jose, Libro de recreaciones, 8). Her personality was extroverted, her manner affectionately buoyant, and she had the ability to adapt herself easily to all kinds of persons and circumstances. She was skillful in the use of the pen, in needlework, and in household duties. Her courage and enthusiasm were readily kindled, an early example of which trait occurred when at the age of 7 she left home with her brother Rodrigo with the intention of going to Moorish territory to be beheaded for Christ, but they were frustrated by their uncle, who met the children as they were leaving the city and brought them home (Ephrem de la Madre de Dios, Tiempo y Vida de Sta. Teresa--hereafter abbrev. TV--142-143).

Among the writings of St. Teresa, three can be indicated as the depositories of her spiritual teaching: her [|autobiography], the [|Way of Perfection], and the Interior Castle. Readers must exercise some caution, however, and resist the temptation to hastily synthesize the doctrine in these books, because St. Teresa wrote from her personal experience at different stages of the spiritual life. For example, the doctrine of prayer found in the [|autobiography] is not identical with that in the Interior Castle; more than a decade had elapsed between their composition, and Teresa had meanwhile attained a higher degree of spiritual maturity with its simultaneous expansion of experience.

"//I did not know,//" she said, "//how to proceed in prayer or how to become recollected, and so I took much pleasure in it and decided to follow that path with all my strength//" (Libro de la Vida, the [|autobiography] of St. Teresa--hereafter abbrev.

In April 1567 the Carmelite general, Giovanni Battista Rossi (Rubeo), made a visitation, approved Teresa's work, and commanded her to establish other convents with some of the nuns from the convent of the Incarnation at Avila. He also gave her permission to establish two houses for men who wished to adopt the reform. The extension of Teresa's work began with the foundation of a convent at Medina del Campo, Aug. 15, 1567. Then followed other foundations: at Malagon in 1568; at Valladolid (Rio de Olinos) in 1568; at Toledo and at Pastrana in 1569; at Salamanca in 1570; and at Alba de Tormes in 1571. As she journeyed to Toledo in 1569 she passed through Duruelo, where John of the Cross and Anthony of Jesus had established the first convent of Discalced Brethren in November 1568, and in July 1569 she established the second monastery of Discalced Brethren in Pastrana.
 * //St. Teresa of Avila. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from The Teresian Carmel Web site: http://www.karmel.at/eng/teresa.htm**////**//****//

Teresa liked to view herself from a distance, and would refer to herself as "this Saint." Her own raptures made her impatient, and she never encouraged ecstatic behavior in her nuns, suggesting they find more useful occupations. She fully agreed to her contemporaries that women were prone to emotional excess, and she confessed to being flaca y ruin herself--a typically worthless female. Medwick, Cathleen (1999).// The Progress of a Soul.** //**New York: Alfred A. Knopf.**//

The incentive to give outward practical expression to her inward motive was inspired in Teresa by [|Peter of Alcantara]. Incidentally, he became acquainted with her as Founder early in 1560, and became her spiritual guide and counselor. She now resolved to found a Carmelite monastery for lakers, and to reform the laxity which she had found in the Cloister of the Incarnation and others. Guimara de Ulloa, a woman of wealth and a friend, supplied the funds. The absolute poverty of the new monastery, established in 1562 and named St. Joseph's, at first excited a scandal among the citizens and authorities of Ávila, and the little house with its chapel was in peril of suppression; but powerful patrons like the [|bishop] himself, as well as the impression of well-secured subsistence and prosperity, turned animosity into applause. In March 1563, when Teresa moved to the new cloister, she received the [|papal] sanction to her prime principle of absolute poverty and renunciation of property, which she proceeded to formulate into a "Constitution" (see [|Constitutions of the Carmelite Order]). Her plan was the revival of the earlier stricter rules, supplemented by new regulations like the three disciplines of ceremonial [|flagellation] prescribed for the divine service every week, and the [|discalceation] of the nun, or the substitution of leather or wooden sandals for shoes. For the first five years, Teresa remained in pious seclusion, engaged in writing.

Teresa of Avila. Teresa of Avila. In //Wikipedia// [Web]. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila**

Saint Teresa and her sister Juana had permission froma Jesuit, Father Alvarez to buy a house in a Avila. they lived in it and Teresa was sent to Toledo by the Carmelite Provincial to get permission to set up a convent. Saint Peter of Alcatrana agreed to be a mediator in the subject, she also visited with Maria de Yepes who had permission to establish a reformed concent.

Wikipedia and Teresian Carmel sources above were used for this piece

"tried as hard as I could to keep [|Jesus] [|Christ] present within me....My [|imagination] is so dull that I had no talent for imagining or coming up with great theological thoughts." Matz, T Retrieved October 9, 2008, from St. Teresa of Avila Doctor of the Church Web site: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208**

Script St. Teresa of Avila was one of ten children and had lost her mother at age fifteen. At age seven Teresa and her brother ventured to a Moorish land to be beheaded for Christ and become martyrs. As they were leaving the city they were caught by their uncle who stopped them and took them home. During Saint Teresa’s adolescent years she behaved the same way teens do now and could not be controlled. Her father was very strict and once he could not stand her anymore he sent Teresa away to a convent. At first Teresa hated the convent but as her love for God grew she began to enjoy it. Teresa had a tough decision in front of her. She had to choose between religious life and marriage. Teresa chose religious life and she did this because she had seen what marriage had done to her mother and because she did not want to be tempted to sin and knew that she would not be tempted in a convent. She was permanently installed at the Carmelite convent. One year later after she arrived, she fell seriously ill with malaria and never fully recovered. She had a seizure while she was ill and did not wake up for four days and when she did wake up there was a grave dug for her. For eighteen years she studied and practiced mental prayer and still withdrew no results. Read Quote (Girl Voice) - "I tried as hard as I could to keep Jesus Christ present within me....My imagination is so dull that I had no talent for imagining or coming up with great theological thoughts." Teresa began to have visions and they hurt her in a way because of her gentle conscience. She confessed to the saintly laymen and as she kept trying to get help, God sent more messages. Read Quote (Girl Voice) "Prayer is an act of love, words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love." Teresa rarely prayed after her illness because she did not think she was worthy to receive anything from God. When Teresa was forty-one years old a priest had successfully convinced her to return to her spiritual prayer methods. Teresa’s biggest problems were her relations with her friends and God said to her: Read with Big Voice "No longer do I want you to converse with human beings but with angels." When Teresa was forty-three she decided to find a new convent. She wanted a life of poverty and isolation. When Teresa’s plan was no longer top secret her fellow nuns told her to raise money for her own convent and became very angry with her. Teresa thought she would have peace and tranquility with her own convent but that did not happen. At her new convent she began to write books about herself to answer the questions of those who condemned her. After writing her book the inquisition left her alone. Years later Teresa began her reform movement. Saint Teresa made her reforms known and she had to sneak around places and many religious orders kept her away. Her reform convents became popular and many people joined. Teresa went to help an Archbishop start a convent in his town but when she arrived she was sent away to attend a noblewoman in labor but when she got there the child was already born and she was too ill to leave and died on October 4th 1528 at the age of sixty-seven.