It doesn’t happen often, that a person’s birthday is celebrated all year round. But Teresa of Avila was not an ordinary person! She was one of the giants of Spanish literature, a religious reformer, a mystic, and a pioneer in spiritual life. As a small but strong woman, Teresa significantly influenced the Church of her time, and it only grew over time. Together with Katarína Sienska, she was declared a teacher of the Church in 1970 – they were the first two women to receive this honor. Her writings are still in demand and have been translated into dozens of languages. Her spiritual advice has helped countless people to experience Christ’s love and presence more deeply.

For these and many other reasons, on October 15, 2014, the Church began the year-long celebration of Teresa of Avila’s 500th birthday. So, let’s look at this great woman’s life, times, and teachings.

 Period background.

When Teresa was born in March 1515, Spain was just entering its golden age. The royal wedding between Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon occurred in 1469, uniting the Spanish kingdoms under one rule. Together, these monarchs drove out the last Moorish rulers in 1492. From that moment on, they worked to realize a vision of an entirely Christian, intensely religious kingdom based on evangelical principles. Still, they intensely focused on “cleansing” the country of all Muslim and Jewish spiritual practices.

The same year, Columbus proved it possible to sail to America and return safely with enormously rich treasures. Within a few years, Spain had become rich and powerful, and the rest of Europe envied him.

Bloody struggles for status and influence between noble families characterized Spanish society. For example, Teresa’s grandfather moved from Toledo to Ávila to hide the stigma of Jewish ancestry and that he had only recently become a noble. Thus, Teresa’s family had to live with a dark secret that did not allow them to live in their new social position. As a young girl, she had to deal with feelings of inferiority and the need to prove her worth. Later, this determined, combative personality served her well as she pursued religious reforms and seemingly unorthodox methods of prayer.

 From a martyr to a nun.

Considering the intense religiosity in Spain and her family’s desire to appear “Catholic,” it is unsurprising that Teresa grew up with a very active conscience and a strong sense of belonging to the Church. When she was only seven years old, she and her brother decided that they wanted to be martyrs. They went to the land of the Moors to shed their blood. Fortunately, they did not get too far because the uncle stopped the young zealots and brought them home. Then came the period when they played as hermits, separated from the imperfect world, and engaged in constant prayer and solitude.

When Terézia was about 14 years old, her mother died, ending her carefree childhood. A short period at the school of the Augustinian nuns sparked her interest in religious life, but her fragile health limited her further plans. It wasn’t until she was 20 that she decided to join the Carmelite convent of the Incarnation in her birthplace.

The Convention of the Incarnation was huge. There were too many nuns for the funds available. Although it was not immoral, the quality of prayer and observance varied, and many women had no trace of a religious vocation. In a few cases, unmarried women from noble families were “deposed” to the spiritual community, along with a large donation to the convent. These women continued to enjoy a comfortable life. They had their maids, cooks, and social circle of friends. It was hardly a good environment for sincere prayer and contemplation.

Despite these shortcomings, Teresa survived the next 20 years as an obedient religious. She studied and accepted the Carmelite ideals of silence and solitude, as well as the aim of the first hermits: “meditate day and night on the Lord’s law.” Although her health continued to complicate her inner peace, other community members found her level-headed and reliable.

 A spiritual earthquake.

Everything changed for Teresa in 1557 when she had an overwhelming experience with Jesus’ suffering, which he underwent for her. The unusually vivid statue of the wounded Christ urged her to repent for her previous half-hearted life. In addition to the flood of tears, she was also overwhelmed by the loneliness and abandonment that Jesus had to endure during his suffering. Seeing Jesus like this moved her to offer him personal friendship. From that moment on, Teresa experienced a deep communion with God, manifested in the form of constant, conversational prayer, which was interrupted by experiences of deep, mystical ecstasy.

This new relationship with Jesus was the impetus for Thérèse to work on reforming the Carmelite order. This relationship was her comfort when she felt abandoned, misunderstood, or rejected. It became the core of all her writings and spiritual guidance. What she experienced was so remarkable that she could not keep it to herself. She knew it wasn’t just for her. Theresa was convinced that everyone could know Jesus as she did. Anyone could have the same conversational prayer she learned.

After this spiritual earthquake, Teresa began thinking creatively about improving life in her convent. She concentrated on the Carmelite rule’s essential elements and started thinking about new and more fruitful ways to live it. She devised ​​an experimental community that would be small enough to foster loving relationships between sisters. Aware of the poisonous effects of titles and status, she proposed that surnames replace religious names and that each sister should adopt simplicity in dress and shoes. Daily activities were to be disciplined and straightforward, focusing primarily on prayer. And above all, the community was supposed to be a happy place if the sisters did everything as they should.

With the permission of the Carmelite provincial, Teresa opened a small convent of St. Joseph in 1562. She still had a little work to do in her new home, but in general; she was glad to have an environment where she could cultivate the same kind of prayer she had experienced. Many previous reforms failed because they focused more on compliance than essential spirituality. Teresa was successful because she insisted that worship must take precedence over all other activities. And it worked! Other nuns asked her to join the happy community, and enthusiastic new vocations came. There were so many of them that Teresa always had candidates for the new communities she wanted to find.

In 1567, the Carmelite Superior Giovanni Battista Rossi visited Avila and was very pleased with what he saw. He told Teresa that she could start convents if she found sisters to live in them. As chaplains and spiritual advisors were needed, he commissioned her to establish religious communities that would follow her reformed directives. Over the next 15 years, Teresa founded 16 reformed convents for women and several others for men.

 Fruitful tension.

It is said that the most dangerous time for any human institution is when it wants to reform itself. In the case of the Spanish Carmelites, some had a natural reluctance to devote themselves to a more austere way of life. This dynamic was complicated by outsiders who had good intentions and ideas on restructuring existing communities, although they needed to understand the Carmelite way of life fully. These people included King Philip II, bishops, papal envoys, and three popes. As a result, human pettiness, pride, and political infighting marred much of Teresa’s excellent restoration.

Teresa finally understood that the two approaches to the Carmelite rule couldn’t live together. Bickering and the hardness of opinions did not allow for real harmony. She had to unite her communities into a separate province called the Discalced Carmelites.

After a particularly bitter dispute in 1575, the Rossies and the General Council advised Theresa to suspend her reformation ways and be in one convent for a time. It was not an easy decision for a very active person, but Terésia used this time to write her best books in the heat of creativity. She has already completed the Autobiography and the Path of Perfection. It was a textbook on prayer. She was now writing her masterpiece, The Inner Castle and the Book of Foundations, in which she described the details of her reformation work.

 A good woman.

After about four peaceful years, Terezia traveled again. She felt she was no longer in control but did not want to stop. Finally, exhaustion and illness caught up with her. She died on the night of October 4, 1582. Ironically, Pope Gregory XIII announced a reform of the calendar on the same day, so the next day was October 15, which we now celebrate as Teresa’s holiday. Even in death, this respectable woman was ahead of her time!