Saint Teresa of Ávila
A Carmelite nun of Ávila, reformer of her order and a major spiritual writer.
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Mystic, Doctor of the Church, Founder, Religious
- Life
- 1515 – 1582
- Era
- 16th century
- Feast
- 15 October
- Countries
- Spain
Life story
Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born on 28 March 1515 in Ávila, Spain, into a comfortable merchant family; her paternal grandfather was a converted Jew. In 1535 she entered the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation in Ávila. In the years that followed she suffered serious illness and long periods of weak health, and the community life around her was relaxed compared with the order's original ideals.
From about 1560 she resolved to return to a stricter way of life. In 1562 she founded the convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila, the first house of the Discalced Carmelite nuns. The project met considerable opposition inside and outside the order. Over the next two decades she travelled across Spain in simple carts, founded about seventeen convents in all for women, and worked with John of the Cross to reform the men's branch.
She wrote extensively, often at the request of her confessors and superiors: her autobiography known as the Book of Her Life, The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle (1577) and the Book of Foundations. Her autobiography was examined by the Inquisition. Her works are still widely read in many languages.
She died at Alba de Tormes in the night between 4 and 15 October 1582, the very night Spain adopted the Gregorian calendar. She was canonised in 1622 and named a Doctor of the Church by Paul VI in 1970, one of the first two women to receive that title together with Catherine of Siena.
Works and witness
- Founded the convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila in 1562, starting the Discalced Carmelite reform.
- Founded about seventeen convents in all for women across Spain.
- Wrote the Book of Her Life, The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle.
- Worked with John of the Cross to reform the men's branch of the order.
Saints from the same country
References
- The Book of Her Life
- The Interior Castle
- Martyrologium Romanum
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.