Flora Cantábrica

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Saint Teresa of Jesus
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October 15
Saint Teresa of Jesus
«Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you.
Everything passes. God never changes.
Patience achieves all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing.
God alone is enough.»
Virgin and Doctor of the Church
(1515-1582)
«In the cross is glory, and honor,
And in suffering pain, life and consolation,
And the surest path to heaven.»
Reformer of Carmel, Mother of the Discalced Carmelites and the Discalced Carmelites; «mater spiritualium» (title beneath her statue in the Vatican Basilica); patron saint of Catholic writers and Doctor of the Church (1970): the first woman, along with Saint Catherine of Siena, to receive this title.
She was born in Ávila, Spain, on March 28, 1515.
Her name was Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, daughter of Alonso Sánchez de Cepeda and Beatriz Dávila Ahumada. There were 12 children in their home: three from Don Alonso’s first marriage and nine from his second, among the latter, Teresa. She writes in her autobiography: «By the grace of God, all my siblings and half-siblings resembled my good parents in virtue, except for me.»
As children, she and her brother, Rodrigo, were very fond of reading the lives of saints and were moved to learn that those who offer their lives for love of Christ receive a great reward in heaven. So they set out to travel to the land of the Muslims to declare themselves friends of Jesus and thus undergo martyrdom to secure a good place in heaven. Fortunately, along the way, they met an uncle who brought them back home. They then decided to build a cell on the grounds of the house and go there to pray from time to time, without anyone bothering or distracting them.
Teresa’s mother died when she was just 14 years old. She recounts in her autobiography: «When I began to realize the great loss I had suffered, I began to feel extremely sad. Then I knelt before an image of the Blessed Virgin and begged her with many tears to accept me as her daughter and to be my mother from then on. And she did so wonderfully well.»
She continues: «Around that time, I became fond of reading novels. Those readings cooled my fervor and led me to other faults. I began to paint myself and sought to appear and be coquettish. I was no longer happy until I had a novel in my hands. But those readings left me sad and disillusioned.»
Fortunately, her father noticed his daughter’s change and, at the age of 15, took her to board at the Augustinian Sisters’ school in Ávila. There, after a year and a half of studies, she fell ill and had to return home.
Providentially, a pious person placed «The Letters of Saint Jerome» in her hands, and there she learned from such a great saint how dangerous life in the world is and how beneficial it is for sanctity to retire to the religious life in a convent. From then on, she resolved to one day become a nun.
She told her father her desire to enter a convent. He, who loved her very much, replied: «You will, but not until I am dead.» The young woman knew that waiting too long and remaining in the world might make her give up her plan to become a nun. So she ran away from home. In her memoirs, she writes: «That day, as I left my home, I felt such terrible anguish that I came to think that agony and death could not be worse than what I was experiencing at that moment. The love of God was not great enough in me to drown out the love I professed for my father and my friends.»
The saint decided to remain a nun in the convent of Ávila. Her father, seeing her so determined to follow her vocation, stopped opposing her. She was 20 years old. A year later, she made her three oaths or vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and entered the community of Carmelite sisters.
Shortly after joining the Carmelite community, an illness worsened, perhaps a malarial fever. Doctors were unable to stop the illness, and it worsened. Her father took her home, and she became almost paralyzed. But this illness brought her a great blessing, and that was that she had the opportunity to read a little book that would change her life. It was called «The Spiritual Alphabet,» by Osuna, and following the instructions in that little book, she began to practice mental prayer and meditation. These teachings would be of immense use to her throughout her life. She later said that if she didn’t make greater progress during this time, it was because she didn’t yet have a spiritual director, and without this help, one cannot reach true heights in prayer.
After three years of being ill, she entrusted Saint Joseph to obtain the grace of healing for her, and in the most unexpected way, she regained her health. From then on, she would be a great propagator of devotion to Saint Joseph, and all the convents she founded were dedicated to this great saint.
endo.