Salutations to you! How are you doing today? I hope that you are well. On this special day in October the Universal Church celebrates an incredible woman of far-reaching influence. Born in the country of Spain in the year 1515 her name was originally Teresa Ali Fatim Corella Sanchez de Capeda y Ahumada. Nowadays she is most commonly referred to as St. Teresa of Avila. While it would not be fair to reduce her life and legacy to a few mere paragraphs it would nonetheless be worth our time to prayerfully consider who she was, what she said, and how she lived so as to imitate her holiness and grow closer to the Lord whom she loved so much.
Saint Teresa was a Carmelite mystic and bears the title of a Doctor of the Church. As a Carmelite she was wholeheartedly devoted to a life of prayer…well, eventually she got to that point. For many years she was more focused on worldly conversations and enjoying nicer things than on being a holy person. However, by the Grace of God at work within her life poco a poco or little by little she came to appreciate prayer as, “nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us. The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything” (Source: catholic.org).
As a result of her fervent prayers she became a mystic or someone who would have such enveloping experiences of the Lord that she would completely lose track of time. However, this is not to say that she lived in a way that was free of stress, challenges, or trials. Far from it! She was someone who suffered from many headaches, literally and metaphorically. As a brief aside, she is the patron saint of those who suffer from headaches because she herself suffered many of them. She also willingly asked the Lord to take on some of the pain of her fellow religious sisters so they would not have to experience so much.
A story of personal suffering from her life is that while traveling in the middle of a rainstorm she slipped and fell down in the mud. She looked up towards Heaven and said to God, “If this is how You treat Your friends, [it’s] no wonder You have so few!” (Source: ncregister.com). Her holy wit with quips such as this and her prayerful perseverance are instructive for us in our own journeys of life. Having a healthy sense of humor and a deep prayerful relationship with God can help us go a long way. Through the prayers of St. Teresa of Avila may we do so all the way to the eternal dwelling place of our Lord and Savior.
