Saint Teresa of Ávila

Who is she?

Saint Teresa of Ávila was a Spanish Carmelite nun. She is a great teacher of prayer in the Church, reformed the Carmelite Order, and was the first woman to be declared a Doctor of the Church.

Life story

Teresa was born in 1515 in the city of Ávila, Spain. When she was only about seven, with a very childlike love for God, she and her brother sneaked out of the city, hoping to reach a faraway land where they could die for Christ. An uncle found them and brought them home. Her mother died when she was about 13; she wept and asked Mary to be her mother.

At 20, she entered the Carmelite convent in Ávila. But for many years, she admitted she was not living with her whole heart: her prayer was dry, and she often got caught up in useless chatting. She was also seriously ill for a long time.

Then one day, standing before a statue of Jesus covered with wounds, she was deeply moved. She wept and asked the Lord to help her belong to him completely. From then on, her life was renewed.

She wanted the nuns to live in poverty and silence and to pray more. In 1562, she founded the small convent of Saint Joseph in Ávila. After that, she traveled all over Spain by horse-drawn cart to found many new convents, even though the roads were hard and people sometimes opposed her. Together with Saint John of the Cross, she also reformed the order’s friars.

She wrote many books, like “The Way of Perfection” and “The Interior Castle.” She compared the soul to a castle with many rooms, with God in the innermost room, waiting for us to come and meet him. She died in 1582 and was canonized in 1622. In 1970, Pope Paul VI declared her the first woman Doctor of the Church.

Why is she a saint?

Saint Teresa was once weak and lukewarm; for a time she even gave up her prayer, but then she came back and kept at it. She let Jesus become her very best friend. Because of that, she bravely did great things for the Church, while staying cheerful, humble and very practical.

A lesson for you

• Every day, spend a few minutes sitting quietly and telling God about your life, as you would tell a friend.
• When prayer feels boring, don’t give up: Saint Teresa felt that way too, and she kept going.
• When doing good gets hard, trust that God is walking with you.